


A Little Caffeine to Start

by MilkCoffee



Category: RWBY
Genre: Adoption, Adult Life, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2018-10-21 11:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10684347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkCoffee/pseuds/MilkCoffee
Summary: Blake had her life planned out by the time she was twenty. Dating, marriage and then kids. But she was now only two years shy off thirty and she hasn't even managed to complete phase one successfully. When Coco and Velvet from team CFVY announces that they were expecting a child, Blake decided to work towards her goal. If only Weiss didn't find out that she was starting from phase three first.





	1. Chapter 1

"Oh my god. The food is so good," Yang moaned indecently as she continued to stuff her face full of a variety of foods from the buffet. Ruby wasn't any better as she just continued going back and forth to the dessert bar, not caring to keep up any conversation as she savoured the variety of sweets. Weiss could only roll her eyes at the two as she ate her share of food properly, albeit a little too properly. 

Blake smiled at her three oldest friends discreetly. It had been a while since they've had a gathering together with their team, let alone with the rest of their friends from their studying days. Team JNPR, SSSN and CFVY were all gathered with them and even if Yang and Ruby weren't talking, it was by no means a quiet evening. 

"Are you okay, Blake? You've barely touched the food. Perhaps it's not to your tastes?" Weiss asked when she noticed Blake's plate. Blake shook her head and gave a small smile. 

"I was just thinking about how much I missed the chaos," Blake chuckled to herself as various memories of their antics during their youth replayed in her mind. "It's nice to see everyone together again. We've all been busy with our own schedules for a while now but it's reassuring to see we can all talk like we just graduated last week."

Weiss raised her brow curiously. She then glanced at Yang and Ruby who gave grotesque smiles with their mouths full. Blake saw Weiss visibly flinch before she placed her fork down to sigh. 

"I understand your feelings but I'm rather glad that those two aren't talking right now. I'd rather not be rained on by bits of chewed up food." Weiss glared at Yang, daring her to do otherwise. Yang shrugged her shoulders and took a sip from her glass to help clear the food. When she was done she opened her mouth to Weiss to prove that her mouth wasn't full. 

"Since you're not going to be rained on by food, I'd like to say... ahem." Yang cleared her throat. "It's nice seeing you all too. Well, I still see Ruby often so she really doesn't count but, nevertheless, what have you all been up to?" She beamed, excited to hear what the other two have been up to with their life. 

Weiss had gone back to her family's company to manage one of their branches in Vale. Her younger brother ultimately took over the company as a whole but the Vale branch was hers and exclusively hers. It was what she earned after proving to her father that she was more than just a princess he could manipulate with her graduation from Beacon. Everyone could hear her beaming pride as she described the day he finally admitted defeat and praised her abilities. 

Ruby was an engineer for a gaming company. She was having a blast coming up with new and innovative ideas for consoles and accessories. She was currently on a project that was trying to simulate feel in games. Yang laughed when she remembered how they went a little overboard and made Ruby faint when the feeling of pain was a little too intense. The younger sister blushed and said they still had a long way to go and would probably just make injuries feel like a small sting rather than excruciating pain. 

Yang was similarly an engineer but for motorised vehicles instead. When she wasn't on a project to come up with new technology for vehicles she would work at a mechanics shop just so she could continue to work on cars and bikes. She just loved being able to see different cars and bikes and be able to work on them without having to have a massive collection of her own. She even had a few ideas to tune her own bike ready to set in motion the next week. 

When it was Blake's turn to share, Coco suddenly stood up and tapped her glass with a spoon to call for the attention of everyone. The whole crew slowly quietened down and stared at the woman who was basking in the attention of all her peers. She always did love being the centre of attention. 

"As you all know, Velvet and I invited you here to give you some news," she started. Sun and Yang both scoffed audibly. 

"Well, I'm proud to announce that Velvet and I..." Coco paused, purposely building up the suspense. "Both hate every single one of you. You ungrateful brutes thinking you can get a free buffet meal from us? Bunch of scums you lot are."

Everyone laughed. They knew that wasn't the news but Coco loved being in the limelight. Building the suspense fuelled her window of fame. At least amongst their group anyway. 

"Okay jokes aside. I'd like to proudly announce that Velvet and I will be having a baby," she beamed. Everyone was silent. Then, almost as if rehearsed before, they all looked at Velvet at the same time who squirmed in her seat at all the eyes staring back at her. 

"What?" Jaune was the first to speak up. 

"No way!" Nora followed. 

"Oh my gosh! I'm so happy for you!" Pyrrha joined in. Soon everyone was congratulating the couple and fussing over the expecting Faunus. 

After Blake had her moment with Velvet, she sat back down at her seat where Weiss was already seated. They smiled at each other as they looked over at the crowd around team CFVY's table. Blake saw the genuine smiles of everyone there but by far the brightest smiles were on Coco and Velvet themselves. Being a parent was such a big responsibility that would stick with you for the rest of your life. It wasn't like they were still young or anything, heck Blake dreaded the fact that she was approaching her thirties very soon, but it was still admirable that they decided they were ready. 

Blake smiled to herself as she shook away the thoughts of her inadequacy. As she reached for her glass of wine, she caught Weiss' eye who stared back at her curiously. 

"Yes?" Blake questioned with amusement. 

"Yang's told me you still have yet to find a partner. Not that I can talk but you've always been fussing about your future back at Beacon. I'm just baffled that you weren't the first to announce this news." Weiss admitted honestly. Blake laughed and shrugged. She did have a point. Blake had her whole life planned when she was at Beacon. Find a partner at twenty-three. Married at twenty-five. If they ever wanted children then start at twenty-six after a full year of honeymoon phase. Three children all one year apart. Preferably in the order of boy, girl, girl. 

"I guess I gave up on phase one of my master plan," Blake admitted honestly. After plenty of failed relationships, Blake has stopped looking for people and projecting false hope onto anyone she thought would suffice. "If there is someone out there for me then I'm sure I'll meet them. I'm just tired of being seeker all the time."

"I know what you mean. Ruby keeps trying to set me up on double dates with her boyfriend but I honestly don't have any cares left for dating," Weiss sighed. Blake gave a small laugh and nodded, empathising with her single comrade. 

"A toast to the forever single life." Blake raised up her wine glass. Weiss grabbed hers and followed along. 

"Now that, I can drink to." 

 

 

A year had passed and Weiss was on her way back from visiting Velvet and Coco with their newest member of the family, Kesler. Apparently he had been more than just a "little" annoyance to Velvet during her pregnancy and hence why they named him the energetic and independent one. Weiss smiled at how well the name suited the small Faunus. 

On her way back home, she was meant to stop by Blake's apartment. After the announcement of the Adel family, their team decided to regularly see each other again, all four having missed the closeness to each other. Agreement aside, she was meant to drop by Blake's place because she had forgotten her jacket at the Adel household and she had offered to give it back. Yang and Ruby haven't heard much from Blake lately either so it would be a good excuse to call Blake out for being antisocial again. 

 

"I'm not being antisocial. I've just had a lot to do lately," Blake defended as she placed a cup of warm tea down for Weiss. It was much too late in the afternoon for another dose of coffee. 

"Is your boss forgetting to file his papers again?" Weiss asked curiously as she took a sip of her drink. She always enjoyed her time in Blake's apartment because it was so tranquil compared to the sisters. Also, the tea was always different every time she stopped by so it was a nice little surprise each time. 

"Yes but there was a lot of weird invoices for things the company didn't buy. I honestly don't even want to know what kind of antics he's getting up to again," Blake sighed. Weiss gave a small smirk as she took another sip of her drink. She remembered Blake almost breaking down after finding out that her boss has rather strange orders from an adult store online. 

"Well I'm sure his wife is impressed by his eagerness to keep things fresh," Weiss said calmly. Blake gave her a deadpanned glare. 

"I'd rather not think about what they did with an order of a ten boxes of honey." Blake paused for a moment as her mind ran rampant for a split second. It was only a split second but it was enough. "Oh my god! I don't even want to- oh my god that's just wrong!" Blake suddenly started gagging. Weiss laughed at her expense only to have a brief image of something rather unpleasant. 

"Yes, well I'm glad I don't need to use my company's money to buy my things," she sighed in relief. Blake gave a smirk and quirked her brow up mischievously at Weiss. "Not that I buy anything of that sort," Weiss clarified. 

"It's not my position to pry into your hobbies. Whatever you like to spend your time on is completely up to you," Blake teased. Weiss glared at the obvious grin Blake was hiding behind her mug. She then searched around for any kind of ammunition she could use back on the Faunus. 

Her eyes then caught onto a stack of papers that looked like her work. She hoped to see one of the questionable purchases from Blake's boss. 

"Well at least I don't have to know that an old balding man buys..." Weiss trailed off as she properly saw the paper. She leaned over and took up the piece of paper as she read it over carefully. 

Blake carefully takes the paper out of Weiss' hand and sheepishly looks away, hiding the paper behind her. 

"I should stop leaving my stuff around," she muttered more to herself than anyone else. 

Weiss was still unmoving as she blinked. She then looked up at Blake who was flushed red with embarrassment. She then looked at the paper peeking from behind Blake's back, the top of the paper still visible. 

"Blake... you're...?" Weiss couldn't get the words out properly. Blake rubbed the back of her neck nervously. 

"I was going to tell you guys once it was complete but I guess the cat's out of the bag." Blake laughed nervously. She paused and back pedalled at her own unintentional pun, silently cursing Yang's influence. 

Weiss blinked a few times. She continued to look up to Blake then down to the paper she was trying to hiding. Weiss gave a small sigh and brought her hand up to her forehead, the shock settling in. 

"You're adopting."


	2. Chapter 2

"How long have you been planning this?" Weiss crossed her arms over her chest as she interrogated her friend. She only planned on dropping by for a short time but it seemed that she would be staying for much longer than she had originally thought. It wasn't helping that Blake was taking her time answering her questions. 

"I mean to be fair I did plan for kids since Beacon," Blake said nervously. When Weiss' eyes narrowed further Blake straightened her back as if she was being scolded by her teachers again. "I mean the idea was floating around for a few years but I never thought much of it. I may have given up on dating but I still wanted kids. And I didn't really think about it properly until I was with Velvet at the hospital for one of her check ups."

"I hardly think wanting to be like the Adel's family is a wise decision Blake. First off, you're single. Not that there's anything wrong with that but when caring for a child you're ultimately doing it as a single parent. Secondly, you're adopting. You're not going to experience the things Velvet has experienced. Pregnancy, child birth, and if you're adopting a child that's no longer an infant, you're going to miss entire years of that child's life." Weiss couldn't even begin to list all the problems that could happen with the situation. Not that she didn't believe in Blake, but to be responsible for a child was something huge. Even Weiss couldn't see herself caring for a small child any time soon. 

"I know. And that's why I haven't told anyone yet. I've just been testing it out a little. I'm not even sure if I'm going to go through with it."

"You seem very close." Weiss eyed the papers that Blake had placed back onto the counter. Blake avoided looking directly into Weiss' eyes. She felt as though she had just been caught for stealing from her parents. 

"I... I'm almost sure about it," Blake stuttered. 

Weiss glanced over at Blake who looked so guilty in that moment. She sighed and relaxed her shoulders slightly. She was aware that she was making Blake uncomfortable with her interrogation and she didn't want her to think Weiss doubted her ability in any way. 

"I'm not saying you definitely shouldn't. I'm just making sure you're absolutely ready. This isn't something that can just be abandoned halfway through. This is a child's life we're talking about." Weiss tried to soften the cold tone to her voice. Blake still didn't turn to look at her but still nodded in response. The blue eyed woman gave one last final sigh. She remembered telling Blake that she expected her to be first to have a child but now that she was actually considering it, it was different. 

"Blake," Weiss started. "I hope what I said that evening at the announcement party didn't put any pressure on you to do this."

Blake didn't reply, instead just fiddling with the mug in her hands, the tea long gone after her numerous attempts to hide herself from Weiss. 

"I know you had your whole life goal planned out before. I just hope you're not doing this because you feel like you have to. Plenty of people don't have children. Plenty of people don't get married. Plenty of people no longer date. You don't have to do this just because you want to seem normal or successful." Weiss tried to gently convince Blake to rethink her reasons. She trusted Blake to make the right decisions but sometimes pressure can lead people astray. 

Blake bit onto her lower lip and tapped her finger against the brim of her mug. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She might as well tell Weiss everything now since she didn't seem to be satisfied with any answers she gave. Knowing her friend for years, she would not let the matter go until she was satisfied. There was also the risk of Ruby and Yang finding out before she was ready to tell them. 

"I've thought about it a lot, Weiss. And I know what I'm doing is big. Huge. Ground breaking even. But I'm sure of this." Blake peeked at Weiss from the side of her vision. She quickly looked back down at her mug again. She ran her finger along the top where two kitty ears were moulded. "I've reached a point in my life where everything just seems so..." Blake trailed off. 

"Lonely?" Weiss finished. She saw Blake flinch and guessed that she had hit a bullseye. 

"Yeah... lonely. I mean don't get me wrong. Hanging out with everyone is fun and all, but it's gotten to the point where when I come home it just feels... empty. And it's not like I'm looking for a partner. I've tried. But it's more like I need my own home. Right now, this place is just that. Just a place," Blake admitted. She hasn't even told Yang about these feelings and yet she was telling Weiss everything. Sure they were friends but Yang has always been slightly closer to her than the blue-eyed woman was. 

"And you think a child would fix that?" Weiss questioned genuinely. 

"I can't say for sure, but I'm fairly certain," Blake had lowered her voice to barely a mutter. 

The silence settled between the two. Weiss was inspecting Blake very carefully. The Faunus has always been independent. A little too independent if she was to say so herself. She was always so confident when they were studying together. Quiet as she was, she stood firm to her beliefs and always made it crystal clear to those around her without even expending excessive amounts of energy to do so. 

As meek as Blake looked then, she knew she would never be able to convince her otherwise if she had already made up her mind. This was going to be another time Weiss was going to have to admit defeat. 

"If you're sure then I won't oppose," Weiss sighed. Blake stopped fiddling with the ceramic mug in her hands before looking up at Weiss, finally making eye contact since the whole interrogation began. 

"You're not going to say I'm not ready? That I'm being irresponsible and desperate?" Blake asked with so much fragility. Weiss waved her hand carelessly and brushed it off with a scoff. 

"If anything, you're the most prepared out of the four of us. You've always had your head on straight and I would never consider this to be an act of desperation. It's admirable to say in the least," Weiss huffed. Blake blinked a few more times before her expression brightened. "I just wish you wouldn't do this alone. You should have talked to one of us."

Blake pretty much slammed her mug down onto the counter before engulfing Weiss into a bone breaking hug. Out of everyone she thought Weiss would be the one who would disapprove of her decision the most but she was so relieved to know that Weiss would be there to support her. 

"Thank you so much, Weiss. You have no idea how worried I was about all of this. Thank you so so much." Blake continued chanting, hugging Weiss as tight as she could. 

"B-Blake," Weiss choked. "Air. Please."

Blake quickly released Weiss from her death grip. Weiss breathed in a huge gulp of air and let it out all at once, the air feeling cool against her temporarily deprived lungs. 

"Oops." Blake nervously laughed. 

"No big deal," Weiss breathed airily. Once her breathing was back to normal she picked up the adoption papers again and scanned through it. Blake's details had all been filled, it was only missing signatures. 

"I assume you're going to have Yang as your witness?" She asked when she saw the section left blank. 

"Actually..." Blake hesitated. "I still don't think I'm ready to tell them."

"Were you ever going to be ready?" Weiss asked without looking up. 

"Eventually."

"Well I don't see why it would be a problem to tell her now. I mean I know about it and I can say that I will support you. I can already see Yang pushing you to get the process done quickly if you told her," Weiss added casually. As she placed the papers down again, she saw Blake hesitating again. She raised her brow questionably. 

"About that..." Blake looked up directly into Weiss' eyes. "Could we please keep this a secret for a little bit longer? Just between you and me." 

Weiss leaned back against the backrest of the barstool and laughed. 

"And here I though the first secret we share would either be about how you can't stand something Yang does or one of my many irritations with Ruby," she mused. 

Blake smiled along. She then held her pinky out for Weiss who looked bewildered at the juvenile gesture. 

"Childish I know, but I still keep these secrets very seriously. I have yet to break a pinky promise," she grinned. 

"I hope you don't believe I'm going to be doing a pinky promise with you, Blake. I'm nearly thirty. My word should be enough."

"Would you rather a contract?" Blake teased. 

"I should be offended that you don't trust me." Weiss muttered with a scoff, all in good humour. Blake just shrugged and gestured to her pinky again. 

"I do trust you. But this is leverage to use against you should you ever break the promise. I hear breaking a pinky promise is more punishable than just going back on your word."

Weiss stared at the pinky for a good long while before looking up at Blake who was smiling in pure amusement. She sighed and lifted her own pinky to shake with Blake's once. Just this one time, she will humour such a juvenile practise. Blake's smile broke into a laugh and Weiss couldn't help but laugh along. 

Blake then brought Weiss in for another hug, gently this time. 

"Thank you, Weiss."

Weiss patted Blake's back comfortingly. 

"You owe me for this."

 

 

Weiss knew that keeping a secret was no big deal. Just don't say what you're not supposed to and the deed is done. But this was keeping a secret from Yang and Ruby. She had no trouble keeping secrets from Yang, but when it was something as big as an adoption from Blake, it proved to be more difficult than she thought. Blake had said that she had no problem telling Yang about her decision, it was just her reasons behind it would've caused Yang to worry. And she was right. 

Weiss could understand how Blake felt because she had experienced it before. Home just didn't feel like home. It was no different to living in a hotel, a place that was foreign and empty that you used as a place of shelter. She was glad she no longer felt that way, but she wasn't sure that the sister would understand Blake's feelings very well. 

"You two have been getting chummy with each other lately," Yang laughed as she flipped through the channels on Weiss' TV. 

"Oh. Wait! Go back. I wanted to watch that," Ruby yelled as she grabbed the remote off of Yang. Yang barely put up a fight and decided to turn her head back to Blake and Weiss who were in charge of making the food that evening. 

"Our schedules have just been similar lately," Blake shrugged as she chopped up some potatoes. 

"And I'd rather not be third wheeling with Ruby and her boyfriend every time we do decide to go somewhere," Weiss added. 

"Hey, it was only because I wanted you to know him better. You're my best friend. I need you two to be friends with each other to avoid any situation where I'd be forced to choose between the two of you," Ruby called back, her eyes still glued to a fight scene between hunters and creatures of grim. It was from a series where people with modernised weapons were going on adventures to fight these monsters known as grim. Ruby had been hooked on the series ever since she first laid eyes on it. She was particularly fond of the main heroine who she said she could relate to. 

"I have no interest in getting acquainted with your partner when you're both disgustingly showing affection to each other in front of me," Weiss shot back. "I'd much rather not see the insides of his mouth mingle with yours."

Yang started laughing hysterically and slapped Ruby across the shoulder. Ruby never shared her moments with Yang because it always seemed awkward and because she knew her sister would tease her for many, many months. So when she did hear about the unpleasant encounters Weiss has with Ruby's partner it was always a delight for the blonde. 

"Ruby, you really gotta keep yourself in check around Weiss. You know she's been having a dry spell. Have a little restraint," she laughed. Weiss almost threw the chopping board at Yang for making the joke but it seemed Blake was first when she threw a potato at her. 

"I don't think that's something you should be making fun of," Blake huffed. Yang continued snickering to herself as she picked up the potato and walked over to the kitchen. 

"Ah yes, my dear Belladonna. You've had absolutely no action for as long as the dry ice here," she nodded to Weiss. "I apologise if I've offended you but I still mean everything I said about her."

"You're severely at a disadvantage here Yang. We're the ones with the knives," Weiss threatened as she lifted her knife towards Yang. The blonde flinched and carefully dropped the potato back into the sink to be washed. 

"Yeesh. Touchy aren't we?" Yang turned on the tap to clean the vegetable before passing it back to Blake. "But, I've got a new friend who was looking for a down to earth companion. He's heard about you and seems keen on meeting you."

Blake laughed and dismissed Yang's offer completely. 

"I'd rather not. I've been too busy lately to even think about that. I've come to accept the fact that I will grow up as a single crazy cat lady," she joked. Yang grinned at the obvious pun but she was still worried about her friend. Weiss was tempted to say that Blake would be far from being alone in the near future but she had promised to keep her mouth shut. Pinky promised too. 

"Well, if you're sure. If you need a good night out don't hesitate to give me a call," Yang offered. Blake rolled her eyes as she cut up the last of the vegetables. 

"Yang. I'd rather not be cramped in a small club with a bunch of people who are much younger than me. We're all a little too far on the age scale to be seen in that scene anyway."

"You don't need to be at a club to have a good night. I mean doing something like this more often would be totally cool with me," Yang grinned as she picked up one of the carrot pieces to pop into her mouth. 

"I'm in!" Ruby called from the couch, obviously still somewhat paying attention to their conversation. 

"I have no objections. It's nice having someone help me cook," Weiss added as she reached over to grab the bowl of cut up potatoes. Blake and Weiss shared a glance, fully aware that this was just practise for Blake. 

"Great! Same time next week? I'll be the chef next week," Yang announced. 

"I'll bring some snacks. Weiss has like absolutely nothing in her pantry," Ruby volunteered. She was a little disheartened that she didn't have any snacks to go with the smooth action scenes but she enjoyed the show nonetheless. 

"Well, Blake? Care to join us next week?" Weiss offered. Blake could only shake her head and smile at her three friends. 

"Sure. Not like I have anything else to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just thought I'd show a little bit of the dynamic the four of them have now that they were all grown up. 
> 
> As of now, there is absolutely no romantic feelings between Weiss and Blake. This is a slow burn fix after all :P


	3. Chapter 3

"So, have you told them yet?" Weiss asked as she placed her coffee down. Blake had asked her to come early that morning so she could talk about a few things before they had to go off to work. Weiss could start her hours whenever she pleased but she was a little concerned about Blake when it was almost half past ten already. 

"No, not yet." Blake admitted. She had tried to bring it up during one of their dinner meet ups but she always chickened out of it at the last second. By now, Yang could already tell that she was hiding something from her but decided not to push the subject. They had long grown past the point of pushing each other for answers and trusted that each of them would open up about things whenever they were ready. 

"But you just told me you've got the approvals done." Weiss crossed her arms and stared at Blake carefully. It had been almost three months since she found out about Blake's secret. She was happy for her friend to say the least, but the fact that Yang still didn't know worried her. It showed that Blake was still hesitant about the whole ordeal. 

"I know, but it's just approvals. It just means that if I want to go through with it, I have the clearance to."

Weiss hummed in acknowledgement as she turned her wrist over to check the time again. Three minutes past ten thirty already. She looked up at Blake who seemed rather relaxed about the time, despite how late it was getting for work hours. Blake caught the questioning gaze and smiled warmly. 

"I've got a day off today," she explained. Weiss nodded slowly. It was odd to have a day off in the middle of the week for Blake but she didn't question it. Maybe her boss got embarrassed about some of the things he bought. "Which is part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you," Blake continued. 

"Well since you won't confide in the overly helpful blonde of ours, I guess I'll stand in for her," Weiss sighed as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, ready for some kind of big news to come from the Faunus. 

"If it's of any hassle you don't have to," Blake quickly added. Weiss opened one eye and peeked over to her friend who was now looking rather guilty. 

"I'm more than happy to be of help, Blake. It's of no hassle. But you and Yang have always been much closer than either of us were to each other. I just want you to be comfortable about these secrets you want to share," she reassured. Even with her reassurance, Blake still continued to fiddle with the sleeves of her sweater nervously. 

With the increased time the two have spent with each other as of late, Weiss was beginning to notice small mannerisms that Blake had a lot more. Her ears seemed to unconsciously track the direction of sounds, flicking occasionally when another new sound joined in the symphony of background noises. Her eyes often went out of focus whenever she was overthinking things and she also noted that it happened quite a lot whenever it was on the topic of the adoption. Then her fidgeting habit whenever she tried to tell Weiss something that she was nervous about. She wasn't quite sure if Blake fidgeted this much when she talked to Yang about things but Weiss tried as best as she could to limit the fidgety behaviour. She didn't want to feel like she was putting the Faunus on trial every time she needed to confide in someone. 

"Well, I asked for a day off today because the place I wanted to see only opened during my working hours," Blake started. Weiss took up her cup of coffee and gave a small hum to show that she was listening before taking a sip. So Blake had asked for the day off. 

"Did you need me to come help you with papers or something?" Weiss asked, trying to ease the nervous tone to Blake's voice. 

"Not quite." Blake tugged at her sleeve again. "I was just wandering, that is if you're free first, to come with me just to be there. You won't do any heavy lifting or reading paperwork, I promise."

Weiss quirked one of her brows. Blake quickly adverts her gaze and looks down at her abused sleeves. 

"So you want the moral support?" Weiss clarified. The Faunus gave one meek nod. "I don't see why not. Where is it that you plan to go?"

There was a pause. Blake was hesitating to tell Weiss and this caused Weiss to worry. 

"A-Atlas," she finally admitted. Weiss' alarms were now firing off. Why in the world did Blake have any kind of business in Atlas?

"Blake, why would you need to even set foot there? You and I know very well that Faunus are never welcome in that place. Are you in some kind of trouble?" Weiss' tone was now as stern as her father's. Blake quickly looked up at Weiss and shook both her hands and head furiously. 

"No, no. I'm in no kind of trouble. I was just going there to..." Blake paused, her mouth still slightly open as she stopped midway through. Weiss narrowed her gaze onto Blake, urging her to continue. Blake's shoulders dropped as she sighed in defeat. 

"It's because Faunus aren't welcome that I wanted to go there. I know there's an orphanage there with abandoned Faunus children and I thought I'd go there first before I made my final decision," she admitted. To say Weiss was stunned was an understatement. It hasn't occurred to her that Blake would consider adopting from another continent. But then again, now that she heard her reasoning, it wasn't that much of a surprise either. Of course Blake wouldn't care about having pedigree children and would rather be housing an unfortunate child instead. 

"If you don't want to go back there I can understand. I can go there by myself. It's just... you've always been making sure that I was making the right choice with this whole thing and I thought having you there would help keep my head on straight." Blake quickly added. Seeing Weiss so calm but so quiet was an unnerving sight. She didn't want to force Weiss back to Atlas after so many things that happened there. 

Weiss looked up at Blake again and saw the worry in those golden irises. As much as she hated to do so, she gave another defeated sigh. At the rate they were going, Blake would probably be close to contending with Ruby with how many times they made Weiss admit defeat. 

"Blake, I'm not going to let you go there by yourself. You're just as much at risk as the children there," Weiss said calmly. 

"It's only for a day. I'll be fine. You don't have to force yourself to go," Blake insisted. 

"I am never forced to do anything, Blake. I do as I please and that means that I will accompany you to Atlas," Weiss confirmed, leaving no room for any kind of argument that Blake may come up with. "I know I keep insisting that Yang should be the one to accompany you through this journey, but it's only because I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with anything. Whether it was Yang or me, we're still friends. As a friend, of course I'd be willing to be there to help you with things great and not so great."

Blake was stunned. The last thing she expected right then was a speech about Weiss being there for her. She was expecting a lecture about how stupid she must be to risk going to Atlas as a Faunus. The blue eyed woman had always been the devils advocate, making sure the team all knew the risks with everything they did. She guessed that she probably didn't know Weiss as well as she thought she did after all. 

"Are you sure?" Blake whispered. Weiss picked up her coffee and took a sip as she nodded casually. 

"I should be free for the day. There's nothing particularly urgent that needs to be done today," she reassured, although it was a small lie. There was one issue that she needed to deal with, but nothing that couldn't be done in her own home. Blake needed her support so she would be there for her first and foremost. 

"Thank you so much, Weiss," Blake said excitedly before wrapping her arms around Weiss again, this time taking care to not crush her. Weiss also noticed that the cat eared friend of hers was more prone to physical displays of affection than she thought. It was a nice change from the strong and independent Blake she thought she knew. 

 

 

Unwelcome was one way to put the experience that Blake was receiving. Although Blake had asked Weiss to come along, she wanted them to travel separately. Weiss still had a reputation as the Schnee family's daughter in Atlas and Blake would rather not start up a fuss while they were travelling. 

Weiss gave a tired sigh as she checked her watch. It would take about two and a half hours to travel via airship and it was almost twelve when they took off. She made a mental note to get some food as soon as they got off at the station. She then looked over to the other side to where Blake was sitting by herself. She didn't look comfortable in the slightest but it was no surprise. Even Weiss with her human ears could hear the rather colourful language the passengers used to describe Blake and their speculations as to why a Faunus would be travelling to Atlas alone. 

Blake tried her best to ignore all the snide remarks but the people's imagination just continued to get out of hand. Not wanting to hear anything else about the possible affairs she had with certain people in Atlas, she decided to take a bathroom break. As she walked past Weiss' seat, she could feel the blue concerned eyes follow her. Maybe she should have done this alone after all. She didn't want to cause any problems to Weiss down the line. 

As much as she regrets her decision to ask Weiss to come along, it was too late now. They were already on the airship, they couldn't just turn back then. Blake sighed heavily as she turned on the tap. She used the cool water to wash her face and calm down. 

Through the walls she could hear someone mumbling about her hiding in the bathroom. They weren't wrong but she knew she couldn't hide in there for the rest of the trip. Taking a deep breath, she pinned her ears down and prepared to walk out again. As soon as she took two steps back, one of the attendants pulled her to the side quietly. 

"I'm sorry, Miss, but one of our passengers requested that you be moved to a private cabin," the attendant said with just about as little remorse as possible. Blake was taken aback with the sudden request, not that she didn't expect it. It wasn't the worst case scenario just yet where they'd turn the airship around to get her off. 

"Oh," Blake whispered disappointedly. She then glanced over to Weiss who met her gaze. To her surprise, Weiss just smiled and gave her a discreet wink. 

"This way, Miss." The attendant started ushering her to one of the private cabins. Blake noted how he avoided touching her at all cost, but went without putting much of a fuss. As soon as she was settled into one of the private cabins and the attendant left her to her own device, her scroll pinged with a message from Weiss. 

'Weiss: I hope you don't mind the move. I thought it'd be quieter for you in the cabins so I pulled a few strings.'

Blake's ears suddenly perked up from their pinned position. Now that she actually listened, it was much quieter. Save for the snoring from another cabin two paces down, but at least there weren't any more whispers about her. Blake couldn't help but smile at Weiss' kind gesture. 

'Blake: You really didn't have to, but thank you. Once we get back to Vale, I owe you at least a weeks worth of meals.'

Weiss smiled at the message and mentally patted her back for doing a job well done. 

 

 

If Blake could describe Atlas with one word, the only word she would have would be 'cold'. Of course the weather was an obvious reason for her choice, but it also described the people and the atmosphere too. No one greeted anyone in the streets, not even so much as a glance. Everyone's expression was bleak and whether it was due to the bone chilling cold or the nature of the city alone was anyone's guess. 

Growing up in such a place, she wondered how Weiss didn't just blend in and mould into any other Atlesian. How one was raised usually determined the course of their life, and yet Weiss wasn't even like any of the people roaming Atlas. Sure she has her cold and withdrawn attitude but it was merely just a fort for the endless warmth she hid underneath. 

"You've been glancing at me for a while now," Weiss suddenly spoke up. It was almost deafening with how very little noise there was from the civilians. "If it was about the private cabin, I do apologise. But I promise you that I only did it out of good intentions."

"Oh. No, I wasn't thinking anything like that. It was very kind of you to do that for me," Blake quickly reassured, barely audibly. She didn't dare raise her voice and potentially draw more attention to herself than she intended. 

Weiss then suddenly stopped in front of a window and gave herself a quick once over, wondering if perhaps something was amiss with her appearance. 

"I don't see any difference in my appearance. May I ask why you seem to be constantly sparing me a glance?" Weiss smiled. "I'm sure I won't go wandering off and getting lost here in my home city."

"Maybe I should have asked Yang to come along. At least she could come up with better jokes," Blake sighed as she rolled her eyes. Weiss gave a small laugh and shrugged her shoulders carelessly. 

"You can't blame me for being curious. Even Yang admits that she doesn't know what you're thinking all the time. So would you care to enlighten me and perhaps even lighten the mood in this dull, cold city."

"Well," Blake purposely met Weiss' gaze before looking straight ahead again. "I was thinking just that actually. Not to hate on your home and birthplace, but it's just so... cold. And I don't mean all this snow either."

Weiss gave a firm nod. 

"Yes, well it does have a reputation benefitting if it's climate."

"And..." Blake continued, hesitating on just how much she should say. When she looked over to Weiss, she noted that she had taken a step or two extra so that she could be closer to Blake, fully intent on hearing what she had to say. "I was thinking how you're different to the typical Atlesian."

Weiss laughed. It wasn't just a polite laugh either. It was one that warmed her slightly against the cold chill of the Atlesian air. 

"Yes, well it's only because we've known each other for so long. I can assure you that I'm still very much the stereotypical Atlas bred brat to those who are foreign to me." Weiss glanced at one of the windows again and saw the smallest of smiles on Blake's lips. The first of their trip. 

"I'm glad that I got past that barrier then. It gives hope that there are others out there who are just as kind as you are here in Atlas." 

"I'm sure there are. Although it's very difficult to admit or show that they are," Weiss shrugged. "Change will eventually happen. There just needs to be a few people to act as catalysts to speed things along. But in a city as cold as Atlas, it's going to take a lot to speed things along."

Blake's ears flicked at the thought. She glanced at a woman walking by, making a deliberate effort to keep as much distance as she could between her and the Faunus. She then looked over to Weiss and saw her walking naturally close to her without a care for the odd looks she got from civilians. Blake wondered if she knew that she was one of those said catalysts that was provoking change. 

"Definitely should have taken Yang along. I can't believe you made a chemistry joke," Blake grinned. Weiss playfully slapped Blake's arm and glared at her. Despite the tingling feeling in her hands from the lack of heat going through them, she felt rather warm. As bad as her jokes were, at least it kept them slightly more chipper than the rest of the cold dead wasteland around them. 

"I do not make jokes or puns, Blake. You and I are both approaching our thirties. I like to refer to such banter as... metaphors. Words of wisdom if you really want to be accurate." Weiss huffed. "Only baboons like Yang would continue to make such juvenile jokes at such an age. It's like her mind stopped developing after walking into that pole at Beacon."

Blake laughed without restraint. Her laughs were muted in the piles of snow but it still caught the attention of those nearby. 

"Yes, well as rocky as our friendship was back then, I still appreciated you. You kept me sane amidst the constant cat jokes Yang kept pulling. Ruby was always on turbo drive too," Blake admitted.

"You and I both then. I don't know how I managed to keep my sanity after that week long study session I had with Ruby," Weiss groaned at the memory. She shuddered at how she thought she heard Ruby calling her when she didn't for weeks after that gruelling week. 

Blake heard a few murmurs from the people on the other side of the street directed at them. She glanced around and realised that they may have finally penetrated the blanket of snow and roused everyone's attention to them. She couldn't help but smirk as a thought passed through her mind. 

"Then again, I wouldn't be so sure we're completely sane. I'm sure the whole of Atlas has their suspicions on two laughing lunatics in the streets," Blake whispered just barely enough for Weiss to hear. 

"You think I care? As Ruby so eloquently told me numerous times, they need to lighten up." Weiss shrugged, not bothering to lower her volume. Blake smiled before she started laughing quietly into her scarf. 

Maybe... just maybe... Weiss was still going through her rebellious phase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do appreciate any feedback you guys have, whether it be positive or negative. 
> 
> It's thanks to feedback that I can improve on the story and make it slightly more enjoyable for the audience :D
> 
> I realised, thanks to the help of feedback, that maybe Blake's reasons for adopting aren't as solid as I thought. So I'll be working to improve on that :)
> 
> Also, I only write this stuff on my phone at the wonderful hours of 12am~4am so if there are errors please do tell me and I'll edit when I have the chance. Thank you :]


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I might change the rating of this fic to M. Not because there's going to be smut but there will mentions of... nightly adventures. 
> 
> Is that how rating works? Or can it just stay as T? 
> 
> Because to me 16 is a teen, but so is 13... and what's acceptable to those two age groups is very different. Ah well. It's still T for now until I do add something remotely mature.

One thing Weiss was not prepared for when she agreed to go back to Atlas with Blake was the range of emotions she would experience. She was prepared for the mild distaste for her home from less than pleasant memories, but arriving at the orphanage brought on feelings she wasn't prepared for. 

At first, she admired the owners for doing something as brave as looking after the outcasted children of Atlas. She was then frustrated at the obvious lack of maintenance on the building which supposedly housed up to eighty people, most of which were children. As they walked through the doors, she noted the obvious leaks around the establishment that was damaging the infrastructure and safety of the building. Paint was peeling off the walls and the floors which were lined with tiles had seen much better days. 

"Ah, Miss Belladonna. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," an aged dog Faunus greeted. He was obviously excited with the way his tail was moving back and forth rapidly. 

"You know him?" Weiss whispered curiously. Blake shook her head, also confused as to how the man knew her. She had talked to a female Faunus when she arranged the meeting. 

"Oh, I'm sorry if that was a little straight forward. Our establishment operates off donations only and Miss Belladonna is one of our longest and most loyal donators here. I was notified that you would be visiting us today so I personally came in to finally meet you," he explained with an innocent grin. 

Weiss glanced at Blake briefly to see her sporting an embarrassed smile. She then glanced back to the space around her. Of course the government of Atlas wouldn't fund a place that housed Faunus. The unkept standard of the building made more sense now. Frustration had now turned to sympathy with a hint of admiration for Blake's generosity. 

"It's nothing special, really." Blake insisted. "I came here today to maybe learn a bit more about adopting."

"Ah, yes. More than happy to help you there," he assured. "I'm Rowan Lykaios. I'm the owner of this establishment and very well versed in the process of welcoming a new family member."

"I'm not a hundred percent certain that I'm adopting yet though. I just wanted to know about everything before I made my decision," Blake quickly added. 

Rowan continued to smile and nodded understandingly. He then glanced over to Blake's companion and for the first time since they stepped through the door, his smile faltered. 

"Oh, Miss Schnee. I'm sorry, I didn't notice it was you before," he said honestly. Blue eyes narrowed onto the reddish-brown haired Faunus. The change in his attitude was as obvious as the sudden pause to his tail. 

"It's quite alright. I'm only here to accompany Blake," she dismissed. Rowan looked at Blake quickly before looking back at Weiss. She could tell he was still as confused as ever. 

"Weiss is a good friend of mine. It's okay," Blake piped in quickly. Rowan still wasn't convinced, but he politely nodded anyway. 

"Forgive my reluctance, but the Schnee family does not leave a pleasant impression on our kind," he said slowly, carefully picking his words to make sure the distinct white haired Schnee wasn't offended. "I'm happy to show you around, Miss Belladonna. But friend or not, I'll have to ask Miss Schnee to wait here. The children tend to be rather immature when their emotions get the better of them."

Had it been anyone but herself in that situation, the place would have been torn down first thing tomorrow morning. Her father, and especially her younger brother, did not take it too kindly when they were excluded from places. Even if they had no intention of being in such places in the first place. But surprisingly, Weiss was calm. A small part of her expected to be tackled and stoned the moment she stepped into the establishment. Forget sympathetic, she was now feeling just guilt. Rowan must have suffered personally from the hands of humans for him to be so hostile despite having the heart to run an orphanage. 

"But she-"

"It's okay, Blake," Weiss interrupted. "I understand your concern, Mr Lykaios. I'm happy to wait here whilst you show Blake around."

Even though she willingly submitted, Rowan still wasn't any less hostile. Blake wasn't fairing too well either. Her ears were pinned down at the guilt of subjecting Weiss to such a situation. It hadn't occurred to her that Weiss wouldn't be welcome in such an establishment. She had known her for so long that she had forgotten that other Faunus saw the Schnee daughter differently. 

"I think I'll talk here then," Blake added slowly. Rowan's expression darkened. 

"Blake, it's okay. He doesn't know me so I understand his behaviour," Weiss quickly reassured. Blake shook her head firmly. 

"No, I asked you to come with me. I'm not going to just leave you here and let you be treated like this."

"Her kind has discriminated against us for far worse," Rowan's chipper voice was now near a menacing growl. Weiss admits he had a point. She wasn't going to deny that. 

"Yes, but that doesn't make it right to do it back to them. If we can't continue our conversation here then I'll return next time with to talk to someone who's less hostile," Blake added confidently. Weiss was her friend. Yang and Ruby were also her friends, all of which were not Faunus. If her friends were not going to be welcome then she would rather not be welcomed there either. 

There was a brief silence between the three. Weiss was tempted to just come up with an excuse that she had business elsewhere when Rowan suddenly sighed. 

"We shall continue here then. I'm afraid I cannot compromise any further. Until I'm sure the children are safe, I will not risk anything," he said sternly. 

"Thank you," Blake said with much relief. Truth be told, she'd rather not take another airship back to Atlas if she didn't have to. 

Weiss had just scrolled through her whole list of emotions in the past ten minutes. She was now just sitting on her positive emotions. Relief that there wasn't going to be a huge scene, admiration again for Blake's bravery, prideful from having someone like Blake as her friend and then just pure bliss from the knowledge that she was important enough to Blake to be defended. Not many people would bother to defend her due to their own expectations for her to handle things on her own. 

Weiss could have just easily walked away and let Rowan have his safe haven back, but Blake wanted her to be there. Maybe it was for the moral support, but Weiss believed that Blake thought she had just as much right to be there as she did. To Blake, they were equals. 

The thought made Weiss think back to their street antics. Blake was definitely going to be a catalyst in equality. She already was. She bridged the gap between humans and Faunus with her friends already and did not hesitate to build more bridges whenever she could. 

As the conversation of the process and expectations continued between the two Faunus, Weiss thought back to her own capabilities. She made a mental note to look up the donations page for the orphanage the moment she got back. 

 

 

"I really do owe you for this, Weiss," Blake grinned as Weiss passed her a bag of food from a nearby restaurant. As influential as Weiss could be, she'd rather not cause a scene by bribing the place to allow Blake in to dine. So she just went with the easier option of getting take-out and eating it at the station. 

"Yes, well you already promised a week's worth of meals. I do have to commend your culinary skills," Weiss smiled back, taking out her box of tuna pasta. 

"I learn from the best," Blake laughed as she got straight into her own share. Weiss had been teaching her a variety of dishes so that she could expand her own cookbook. Adopting or not, it was still a benefit to her. 

"You learnt the basics but you tend to go above and beyond. As much as it hurts my pride, I'd appreciate your meals very much from time to time." Weiss glanced over at Blake who's ears were now twitching as she savoured the food. It was a long day for them both but it was also productive. "Have you come any closer to your decision?" She continued as she started on her own food. 

Blake gave a thoughtful hum with the tip of her plastic fork pressed between her lips. She learnt a lot from Rowan about what to expect from adopting. She knew it would be hard getting a child to be convinced that you were now their parent after their previous ones either left or parted with them. She just didn't expect to become a therapist for the child too as they most likely would have their own demons to deal with. 

"I'm afraid not. I always dreamed about being a mother when I was young. Wanting to have these small little moments between just me and my child made me tempted to just settle down with anyone and deal with them for the rest of my life while I just devoted myself to my kids. But it wouldn't be fair to raise them in a broken family so I just let it slide.

"But even now I still crave to have that small bundle of joy that could dedicate myself to. Watch them grow and mature as I try to guide them along the rocky road of life. I just don't know if I'm adequate enough to be guiding a child who's already been tossed around so early in their life." Blake admitted. Weiss had heard the whole list of expectations that Rowan had given them. She had expected the white haired woman to just pull her straight out of that building and just slap her right across the face to tell her that she was in no way prepared to accept such responsibilities. 

But of course she didn't do such a thing. Instead, she just stood there and listened attentively. Weiss didn't push anything onto Blake and she was grateful for that. 

"I know he said that it's often harder for single parents to be adopting," Weiss said calmly. "But you do have a very strong support system behind you. Needless to say, Yang and Ruby would absolutely fawn over your child."

Blake smiled. She knew Weiss was right. The two sisters were absolutely smitten for children. Blake had plenty of calls from Velvet about how intense the two spoiled Kesler whilst Coco would be yelling something about not feeding the baby sweets in the background. It made her realise that she probably should have told everyone earlier about her plans. It was wrong of her to doubt their support and friendship after over a decade of knowing each other. 

She then gave a small sigh and smiled. She glanced over to Weiss seemed rather miffed about her food. 

"I see why everyone chooses to dine-in in this city. All kinds of take-out food pretty much freezes the moment you open it," the blue-eyed heiress sighed. Blake gave a soft chuckle and shook her head slightly. 

"I think I'll tell them tomorrow," she concluded. Weiss gave an inquisitive hum and raised her brow as she had a mouthful of food. Blake never thought she'd ever see the multi million lien company co-owner eating cold tuna pasta at an airship station, but here they were. Yang was still her most trusted ally but she was starting to learn that perhaps having only one person to trust wasn't such a wise idea. 

"I'm going to tell Yang and Ruby tomorrow. You were right. It was stupid of me to not tell them knowing that they would support me wholeheartedly," she added. Weiss gave a thoughtful hum as she finished what she had in her mouth to talk. 

"We all have our secrets. It's normal to be self conscious even around those who are practically your family. I'm just glad I found out when I did," she shrugged. Blake nodded along. She didn't know if she would have even got this far if she didn't have Weiss there to support her. 

"Ah." Blake suddenly froze. 

"What is it?"

The Faunus hesitated as she realised one of the outcomes that would happen tomorrow once she told the sisters. She gave Weiss a worried stare. 

"Yang's not going to like that you found out before her." 

Whether it was the sudden cold gust of wind that made a chill run down her spine or not would be left to anyone's guess. Nevertheless, it left Weiss with a feeling of dread. 

"I think I may have to be absent at tomorrow's meeting then," she mumbled quietly. Blake laughed as she shook her head. 

"Nope. I owe you food tomorrow so you're going to have to be there. She's not going to hurt you. If anything she will be moping around for a while."

"Yes, quite likely while she sends daggers my way with her glares," Weiss sighed. Blake had absolutely no rebuttal or reassurance for that one as she smiled innocently. Weiss didn't want to think that the cold tuna bake would be the last meal she had with the Faunus but there was a chance it may be. 

 

 

Weiss threw her keys into the bowl on her kitchen counter as she went to her fridge to grab a bottle of water. Her body was still rather cool from her trip to Atlas but she couldn't stand less than cool water. Maybe it was the Atlesian blood in her veins craving the feeling of the chill it grew up in but she always had a bottle in her fridge. Always. 

As she took a sip from the bottle, she scrolled through her emails and notifications on her scroll. She had gotten through most of the emails whilst on the flight back. The airship was much emptier than the one they took to Atlas and a Faunus on a flight to Vale was nothing out of the ordinary. Blake didn't mind that Weiss was on her scroll for the duration of the flight. She too was on her scroll reading through a book she had saved as she occasionally said a few things to her travelling companion. 

Once all the annoying notifications were settled, Weiss finally remembered the one thing she needed to do for work that day. Her Vale branch company had a little hiccup when one of the employers who handled finances and book keeping messed up some of the paperwork. It caused her company to be put under suspicions of money laundering so Weiss had taken it upon herself to sort out the mess. It was nothing hard or urgently pressing but still tedious nonetheless. 

Twenty minutes into her work, her scroll buzzed with a text from Blake. 

'Blake: Please send me a list of things you'd like to eat. I actually don't know what you like to eat.' 

Weiss smiled at the honesty. At least she wouldn't have to make food for herself for a week. 

 

 

'Weiss: I trust your choices. There's nothing I particularly love or hate.'

Blake frowned at the completely useless response she got from the friend she was meant to feed for the next week. Had you asked Blake what she thought Weiss would like to eat the first year they knew each other, she would have answered with the typical rich people diet. Caviar, truffles and gold flakes would have all been in the list. 

But Weiss almost never indulged in such ingredients. Of course once in a while she did attend restaurants that served those types of food, but it was either usually for business meetings or family meet-ups. Outside those two realms, Weiss ate anything. Blake had heard Ruby scolding Weiss for eating nothing but instant noodles for a week because her work was getting too hectic. 

The Schnee daughter eating instant noodles. Now that surely would have made headlines if the media caught wind of that. 

Blake glanced over at her kitchen from her couch. She would have to buy ingredients for the four of them tomorrow. Maybe she could ask Ruby and Yang for some recipes as well. Blake took up her small note-pad that she usually left on her coffee table and started scribbling down her grocery list. At the end of the small piece of paper, she wrote in large print 'ALCOHOL'. She would need the false courage of tipsy Blake to confess her plans to Yang and Ruby, but also to soften Yang up when she realised that Weiss knew before she did. 

Blake sighed as she placed the notepad back down. She was going to finally tell them tomorrow. She just hoped that she was making the right choice. Technically she could still find someone to settle down with and had her own child within the next five years, but the prospect of dating again made her less than enthusiastic about that idea. 

As nice and perfect her exes may have been, she just didn't think it was right to settle down with them. Her latest ex had even proposed to her before she decided that she could not see herself tying herself down to him. And that was four years ago. 

She still had plenty of opportunities, although she noticed that those opportunities were less than what they were in her 'prime years', but she just could not care enough to even try. Yang often encouraged her to find someone but Blake's answer still remained the same. 

"I don't think I'm ready for a serious relationship." 

And she was honest to her words as Yang's blonde hair was. 

Blake checked her calendar on her scroll and sighed when she saw the date. She was just glad that the week she dreaded was going to be after her agreed time to be Weiss' cook.


	5. Chapter 5

"..."

There was an obvious silence that had fallen over the dinner table. Blake felt her appetite wither away the longer the silence progressed. She glanced over to Weiss who also wasn't touching her food. The heiress was too busy trying to figure out what had happened between the two sisters for the atmosphere to be so awkward. Blake hadn't even dropped her bombshell of a confession yet. 

"Great food by the way, Blake. You're pretty much fit to be a mum at this point," Yang suddenly spoke up to break the silence, her voice seemingly full of venom. Blake gripped onto her utensils as Weiss suddenly straightened her back. They exchanged a quick look of panic. 

How had Yang found out? Did Blake accidentally leave another clue somewhere? But the awkward silence has started the moment Yang had stepped through the door. Did someone else inform her?

"You should teach me one day. Both you and Weiss," Ruby suddenly spoke. Blake almost felt what little food she had almost come up. Ruby knew as well?

Weiss cleared her throat uncomfortably. She could see Blake having a panic attack and decided to ease the situation before she emptied her stomach contents out onto the dining table. 

"Look, you t-"

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Yang threw back at Ruby. Weiss paused. 

"I can if I try," Ruby huffed, taking another bite of her food and turning her head away from the blonde. Blake's ear flicked as her brows rose high. Her whole body had just slammed the pause button on her feelings of nausea. 

"So were you trying?" Yang gritted. 

"Look, it was just a small little scare. Nothing happened!" Ruby yelled across the table. 

Blake and Weiss shifted her gaze back and forth between the two sisters before meeting each other's. Weiss mouthed a question to which Blake replied with an equally confused shrug. 

"But what if the next time you weren't so lucky?" Yang slammed her hands onto the table. 

"Okay, wait. Yang, calm down," Blake quickly spoke and pulled Yang back further away from the table. 

"What is with you two?" Weiss finally asked. She was a little relieved that Blake's secret wasn't leaked but was suddenly very concerned for Ruby. She obviously had done something that upset Yang. The blonde may have rough housed with others, but she never showed aggression to her friends, and especially not to her own little sister. 

"So she didn't even tell you?" Yang scoffed. 

"Tell me what?" Weiss questioned, seeking an answer from the youngest at the table. 

"It didn't happen so I didn't tell her. Just drop it Yang. I told you I'll be more careful next time," the red tipped brunette rolled her eyes immaturely which only fuelled Yang's annoyance. Blake had to get out of her seat to keep Yang in hers. 

"You know contraception isn't always a hundred percent! Are you prepared to be a mother of a child?! You and Yahto aren't even married yet!" Yang yelled, struggling against Blake's arms. She felt the restraint loosen as the silence engulfed the room again. 

Weiss quickly threw a worried glance over to Blake. She knew Yang's words were a revelation on the situation, but also a coincidental jab at Blake's own. She silently cursed the blonde for only increasing Blake's insecurities but she could not fault her, because Yang didn't know. 

"He said he would have taken responsibility. Why are you criticising me for being an unfit mother? What about you? When was your last long term relationship?" Ruby shot back with just as much venom. Weiss tore her gaze away from the deflated faunus to quickly control Ruby. This was not the kind of night she had thought would happen. 

And as luck would have it, it was very similar to what Blake was going to admit. They knew that the way Yang was reacting was not how she would behave if Blake revealed her news, but it did cast doubt in both Weiss and Blake. 

"At least I'm not rushing head first into the first guy who says he loves me!" Blake was not able to hold Yang down with the added weight of insecurities on her shoulders. Yang stood up and slammed her hands on the table again, causing the plates and utensils to shake against the tabletop. 

"He's not the first, but I also know he's genuine!" The younger sister countered. 

"Alright!" It was Weiss' turn to yell this time. She glanced over at Blake again to see how she was holding up, but the pinned ears and fidgeting hands told her that she wasn't doing too well. Weiss gave a long annoyed sigh and made a note to talk to Blake privately once the two hot-headed sisters were out the building. 

"So from what I've gathered, Ruby had a pregnancy scare. Am I correct?" Weiss asked sternly. She met both lilac and grey eyes directly, waiting for an answer. 

"She was late for her period," Yang finally muttered. 

"I just got it two days ago," Ruby added. 

"Okay, so she's not actually pregnant. Yang, count your blessings for now and sit back down," Weiss gritted. Yang challenged her, continuing to stand and glare daggers but Weiss' glare won out in the end. Begrudgingly, she sat back down and crossed her arms with a loud huff. "Now you. Are you using contraceptions?" Weiss turned back to the focus of the whole situation. 

"I'm on the pill so-"

"Are you using condoms?" Weiss interrupted. She didn't have time for beating around the bush. Blake was dealing with her own demons and she needed to quickly help her deal with them before they ruined her. 

"I... sometimes... but I mean it's not like-"

"No," Weiss stopped her. "Unless you're planning on buying a pram anytime soon, you should always use what contraceptions you can. Yang is right, contraceptions are not fool proof so unless you're prepared, you should not play with your chances," she lectured sternly. From the side she could see Yang getting up to rub it in Ruby's face but Weiss' glare stopped her immediately. 

The heiress wasn't in the mood for an immature round of 'I told you so' because Yang had caused major damage to a third party through the whole ordeal. As much as she wanted to call Yang out for her mistake too, she knew she couldn't unless Blake had told them her part first. 

"I know that now. Yang just keeps on beating on me like I'm due next month," Ruby shot back. She was feeling like she was at a disadvantage with both Yang and Weiss lecturing her. Well, Yang's was more like yelling but it was the same concept. 

"I'm going to be waiting for your period to be due next month, that's what," Yang mumbled. 

"Yang!" Weiss scolded. Yang just turned her head and ignored her. 

"See?! Look at her!" Ruby pointed. 

"That's enough you two!" Weiss yelled. Ruby quickly retracted her arm and sat up straight in her seat whilst Yang had the smallest amount of decency to face her again. 

The blonde glanced over to Blake, wondering what her say was in the whole thing but was left rather confused when Blake blatantly refused to meet her gaze. 

"Yang, you need to talk to Ruby properly about this and not just yell at her. She was probably just as terrified as you," Weiss finally said calmly, trying to resolve the issue. "And Ruby, Yang is only worried about you. Please try not to shave years off her life and be sure to practise safe sex! Just the pill is not going to be enough."

The two sisters sat silently. Ruby was heavily reflecting on her actions but Yang was now seemingly distracted by a certain quiet faunus at the table. Weiss caught Yang studying Blake carefully and quickly tried to think of a way to deter her. 

"Well? You two agree to let this pass and continue with this dinner peacefully?" Weiss crossed her arms and waited. 

"Fine," Ruby huffed. She then outstretched her arm out as a peace offering. To both her and Weiss' annoyance, Yang refused. 

"Yan-"

"What do you have to say about this, Blake?" Yang suddenly asked in a flat tone. Blake flinched in her seat as her ears immediately switched from pinned down to up straight and tall. 

"Huh?" are faunus sputtered. Weiss dug her nails into her arm, quickly trying to find another way to deter the blonde. 

"You've been awfully quiet. Weiss obviously thinks Ruby was stupid and yes, I know I've been harsh on her..." Yang glanced at Ruby once before turning back to study Blake. "But you haven't said anything yet."

"Yang I don't think-"

"You have something to say?" Yang interrupted before Weiss could even finish. Blake looked over to Weiss, desperately seeking help but the heiress was flustered too. This night suddenly took a turn from bad to worse. 

"I..." Blake gaped wordlessly. Yang frowned at the response. 

"You don't think she was right, do you?" Yang accused. The other three could sense yang's temper rising rapidly. 

"N-no! I mean, Weiss. Yes. Good. Condoms. Must. Good. Baby. No," Blake stuttered, seemingly losing the ability to form proper sentences. Yang's eyes narrowed suspiciously. She knew Blake was hiding something now. Weiss was a little concerned with the last two words of Blake's stumble. She wondered if this whole thing was turning her away from the prospect of adopting faster than her father turning away from a faunus. 

"Yang, this is between you and Ruby. Why are you suddenly throwing Blake under the bus?" She spoke sternly, trying to not any hint of fear be present in her voice. 

"Because she's doing that thing where she fiddles with her sleeves," Yang answered smoothly. 

Immediately, Blake let go of the sleeves of her jacket. Weiss gave a quiet sigh. She couldn't defend that. In the short time she had gotten to get to know Blake better she had also noticed that habit. There was no way Yang didn't know about it. Blake's stuttering mess of a response also didn't do her any justice. 

"Don't tell me you missed your period too!" Yang gritted. 

"Oh my god! No!" Blake spat quickly. Unless sitting on a public toilet seat could get her pregnant, there was no way she would have the slightest chance in hell to be pregnant. 

"Then what is it?" Yang raised her voice. 

"Yang, let her go. I get it, I messed up. Stop throwing your anger at Blake," Ruby urged. She honestly felt guilty seeing Blake being put under Yang's intense heat. "She worked hard to make us food. Maybe she's upset that we had to ruin it." 

"I'm not convinced."

"Yang, convinced or not, she told you what she thought. Take that bottle of wine and help yourself if you need to calm down!" Weiss said sternly, leaving no room for a rebuttal from the blonde. Yang glared at both the heiress and her younger sister but sighed and grabbed the bottle from the middle of the table to start on it in the lounge. She made an obvious show to knock her seat off its legs as she left, leaving the remaining three to silently watch her leave the table. 

As she turned on some random show and popped the wine bottle, the heat at the table slowly ebbed away. Weiss worriedly watched Blake as the faunus took deep breaths to calm herself down. 

"Sorry about that," Ruby spoke softly. "The food's really great, Blake. Sorry we kind of ruined it."

"I-It's fine," Blake answered shakily. "I'm just glad to know you're okay too."

"Thanks," Ruby smiled gently. "But she's right. I'm not ready to be a mum. Yang's just being a little hotheaded so don't worry about her. She will calm down soon."

"She'd better," Weiss muttered. "When did she find out about you and the whole thing anyway?"

"Four days ago. I called her and told her but it kind of just... blew up in my face," the youngest gave a small awkward laugh. "She was getting over it too, but I guess she needed a second opinion."

"Does Yahto know?" Weiss gave a small sigh as she picked up her fork again. She didn't really feel like eating but she had to normalise the situation somehow. 

"He does. I told him first. He was prepared to do a shotgun wedding."

"Irresponsible, but noble," Weiss shrugged. She looked over to Blake who was poking at her food mindlessly. Weiss then saw an opportunity to gauge Ruby's possible opinion on Blake's situation. "I'm sure when it comes down to it, you could raise the child yourself anyway." Blake's fork stopped moving again. Weiss saw her stare at the plate but her ears were definitely waiting for Ruby's response. 

"What? Me? By myself? No way," Ruby laughed, thinking that Weiss was joking. Weiss cleared her throat awkwardly. Everyone seemed to be love hitting all of Blake's weak spots that night. "It wouldn't be fair on the kid either. It's always better for them to know who their parents are."

"I mean, sure we might not be together, but if it ever happened where I was looking after the child as a single parent, I'd still make the effort to have the kid see their father if they can. Yang and I grew up with only one parent for most of our lives so we know how it feels to be missing something," Ruby continued. Weiss was tempted to kick Ruby in the shins to get her to stop but it would only bring about misunderstandings. 

"I guess you plan on settling down first?" Blake asked quietly. Weiss was a little surprised to see her have the courage to speak but Blake's demons were probably driving her into a corner. She was probably seeking for any possible saving grace she could to prevent herself from spiralling into the depths of no return. 

"Definitely. It's nice to have someone there to support you while you both support a new life."

"I see." Blake placed her fork flat against the table. Weiss took a deep breath as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. It felt like Blake had taken one step forward, only to be pushed back three steps. 

"But, that's just me," the brunette suddenly spoke up again. "I know there are people out there who could probably provide everything on their own. I mean, my dad did a great job himself. Not perfect, but more than enough."

There it was. The saving grace Blake was looking for. Weiss saw the spark of hope flicker in the golden orbs and was counting all the blessings from all deities in the world for Ruby's need for fully honest answers. She honestly didn't know how Blake would have recovered if Ruby hadn't decided to add that extra bit at the end. 

"I'm relieved that you've thought this through," Weiss said honestly. The long cold meals were slightly more appealing with the return of her appetite. 

"Yeah... well, missing your period gives you a lot to think about," Ruby shrugged. Blake nodded slowly and reached to take a sip of her wine. She was relieved but she needed a little help to wash away the left over anxiety. 

"Yes, like about the safety of public toilet seats and if I should use contraception for them," Weiss rolled her eyes. 

Blake suddenly spat her drink onto the table. Ruby and Weiss flinched immediately, confused when Blake struggled to recover through her laughs. 

"I... thought-" Blake struggled to get the wine out her windpipe. "The... same." 

Weiss and Ruby looked at each other for a brief moment before smiling. 

"I'm sure everyone has at one point," Ruby grinned. 

"Yes, well," Weiss rolled her eyes. "Only the sad lonely women have. You have an actual possibility in the form of that boyfriend of yours."

"No objections there," the brunette shrugged. She glanced over to Blake who was just recovering from her fight for air. "But should the situation ever arise, no. Two women can't get each other pregnant either."

Weiss dropped her fork to let it fall to the plate with a loud clatter. Blake, who was appreciating the ability to breathe, started coughing up a fit again. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss gritted. Ruby quickly put her hands up defensively. 

"Hey, woah. Nothing wrong with that. I mean they say women get more adventurous in their later single years. It's the contemporary years. I'm just saying I won't judge you if you do decide to bat for the other team."

"I'm not asking if you had a problem with that," Weiss rolled her eyes. "Why are you suddenly bringing that up? I think it's obvious that two women can't ever get each other pregnant." 

"Well, aren't you... well... uhmm," Ruby stuttered. She wasn't quite sure how to convey her thoughts. 

"Aren't I what?" Weiss gritted. 

"Well... isn't that why you're are asking about this whole parenting thing? Two mums are just as good as any other form of parenting if that's what you were worried about," Ruby explained quickly. Weiss rested her elbows onto the table and held her head with a groan. She was so close but so far from the actual truth. By this time, Blake had finally regulated her breathing pattern. 

"No, Ruby. I am not seeing anyone, male or female. Nor do I plan on being a parent anytime soon. I'm too busy with my work to care about dating, let alone a child," Weiss sighed. 

"But, I saw an orphanage website on your scroll," Ruby said slowly. This caught Blake's attention as she raised her brow at the heiress. 

"I was making a donation to an orphanage in Atlas. I heard their living conditions weren't the best, so I decided to help them," she replied calmly. 

"Really?" Blake quickly questioned. Weiss gave a firm nod before reaching out for her own wine glass. From the corner of her eye she saw the faunus mouth a quiet 'thank you'. She gave a very slight nod of acknowledgement before turning her attention back to the younger naive one of their table. 

"Ohhhhh. I see now," Ruby dragged on. "Cool. But I'm just saying, whoever it is, it's cool. You too Blake. Yang's been worried that you might be dying alone one day," she added with a pair of thumbs up.

"I appreciate her concern..." the faunus said slowly, not quite sure how to take the sentiment. She caught sight of Weiss rolling her eyes and gave a small quiet laugh of her own. The night had been one heck of a roller coaster but at least things were somewhat calm again, though Weiss was a little annoyed that the big reveal of Blake's possible adoption seemed to keep getting pushed back. 

 

"I'm sorrrrry. I'll make it up to you," Yang slurred as she leaned against her younger sister for support. She had spent the last hour constantly apologising to everyone for being a major pain in the ass after finishing almost the whole bottle wine to herself. Ruby had heard enough of the apologies and decided to help the emotional drunk home. 

"We'll see you guys next week. I'll be making me famous pie so don't worry about dessert," Ruby grinned, shifting Yang's weight to a more comfortable position. 

"Bring Yahto too. I need to talk to him about being more responsible with your nightly adventures," Weiss added with a frown. 

"Geez, you're worse than dad. Fine, I'll see if he can make it," the brunette sighed. "Good night you two. And Weiss, don't drive around too late. Crash at Blake's if you need to."

"I wonder who's the nagging one now," Weiss mumbled. 

"I'll see you next week," Blake chuckled. 

"Still you. Okay good night! This buffoon is getting heavy," Ruby grunted as she lugged Yang's limp body off into the driveway. 

Once Blake closed the door, she felt all the strength in her body leave. Weiss quickly caught her as best as she could, trying to prevent any major bruising to her knees but her efforts were mostly futile. 

"Woah there. I think that's enough wine for you," Weiss grunted. Blake gave a small airy laugh and nodded but remained seated on the floor in front of her door. She had just dodged a major bullet that night but she was only prolonging the inevitable. She would have to tell them soon if she wanted them to give their support. 

"That was one hell of a night," Blake sighed, grasping onto the side of her head painfully. 

"One that's not done yet," Weiss agreed. Blake looked up with a confused blink. "We need to talk. You obviously have been having some dark thoughts tonight and I'm not letting you go to sleep until we sort them out."

"What do you mean?" 

"You have doubts about telling them again. I could see you beating yourself up whilst Yang was going at Ruby," Weiss said sternly. She reached her hand out to offer it to the faunus and helped her stand up from the cold floor. Blake gave a childish groan and rolled her eyes. 

"I'm fine, Weiss. It's getting late. We should head off to sleep. I'll get some spare clothes and sheets," Blake insisted, attempting to walk off. Weiss grasped onto her wrist and stopped her from going any further. 

"I don't care if the sun is coming up, we need to talk. Doubt will only grow the longer you leave it unattended."

"We can talk tomorrow. I'm sure doubt can't grow that quickly."

"Blake," Weiss warned. 

"Weiss," Blake answered back with just as much heat. The two stared at each other dead in the eye, neither wanting to forfeit. Blake then broke their staring contest to the hand that was grasping her wrist. Weiss followed her gaze and realised she was probably gripping too hard and quickly let it go. Blake saw the opportunity and made quick haste to start busying herself with preparing the guest room.

"Blake, you're going to have to talk about this soon," Weiss called out after her, standing in her place. 

"There's nothing to talk about. Yang has a point. No one should rush into parenthood unless they're ready," Blake's voice called back, slightly muffled by the walls. Weiss sighed and quickly went to find the guest room so they wouldn't be shouting at each other across the apartment. 

"And what about you? Do you think you're ready?" Weiss asked as she walked through the door of the room. She saw Blake digging out some fresh sheets and extra blankets silently, refusing to answer the heiress. Weiss noted how stiff Blake's ears were sitting on her head and wondered just how much damage the night had done to her system. 

"No. I'm not ready to even commit to a person, let alone to a small child," she finally answered quietly. Weiss leaned against the frame of the door and crossed her arms as she watched the faunus fuss over the bed. 

"You don't have to be committed to someone to be fit for parenting. What happened to wanting someone to look after and dedicate yourself to?"

"Reality happened." Blake's answer was short and tense. The two fell into another uncomfortable silence. Weiss pushed herself off the door frame and slowly walked over to sit on the half fitted bed next to Blake. She grabbed Blake's hands gently and pried the sheets away to hold her hands. 

"Your delusions are not reality," Weiss said with as much reassurance as possible. She didn't have much practise with reassuring others like she did with convincing people but the two were somewhat similar, to her at least. "I'm not going to lie, you're not the perfect candidate to be a mother right now. But you're willing to try to be. No one's ever the perfect parent before they have a child. Everyone learns as they go along. Being prepared to be a parent doesn't mean being the perfect parent."

"But-"

"Listen to me, Blake. This decision is yours and yours alone. Even if Yang is against it, which by the way, I highly doubt, you shouldn't let others decide what you want to do with your life," the heiress gripped onto Blake's hands tightly. "You decide when you're ready to be a parent, not Yang, not Ruby, hell not even me. Do you understand?" 

Weiss stared at Blake's golden eyes, waiting for a reply. Blake felt the cool blue eyes breaking down every single one of her rebuttals and leaving her with no other option other than to nod silently. She cursed the heiress' skill in securing business deals for her seemingly flawless skill in bending people to her will. 

"Good. Now go clean up and get some rest. I can make my own bed." Weiss stood up and pulled Blake along with her before ushering her out of the guest room. 

"But you're a g-"

"I'm your friend, not a guest. Now hurry up and leave so I can do my thing," Weiss shooed. She was successful in pushing Blake out of the room but the faunus suddenly planted her feet firmly on the ground. "What is it n- Ow!"

Before Weiss could even finish, she felt two arms wrapping themselves around her and crushing her whole frame in a suffocating hug. Blake even went as far as to lift her off the floor for a fraction of a second. 

"Thank you. Like, really. Thank you so much," Blake mumbled into her shoulder. Weiss struggled to free her arm enough to pat her back reassuringly. 

"Anytime. But some air would be nice," she struggled. Blake gave a genuine laugh, the first of the night, and quickly released Weiss. Weiss rubbed her arms sorely and realised that Blake was still standing in front of her as if she was waiting for something. Weiss raised her brow curiously which only made Blake smile even wider. 

"It's too bad none of my exes were as supportive as you, otherwise I might not have to resort to adopting," she grinned. Weiss blinked, stunned at the compliment? She wasn't quite sure how to take it. 

"Uh..." 

"Just a thought," Blake shrugged carelessly. "Good night, Weiss. I'll see you tomorrow."

Without another word, Blake turned and left. Weiss stared after the raven-haired faunus mindlessly, still stunned with her last remark. It was a unique compliment she hadn't received before, or even heard of. 

"I don't even know," Weiss sulked to herself. She decided to let the remark pass for now. The night had really taken its toll on her and she was feeling like her energy reserves were severely in the red. She still had to sort out her company's finance paperworks the next day too. 

She would deal with things one thing at a time. Ruby and Yang seemed to have calmed down, Blake wasn't beating herself in the dark and all the dishes from the night were clean and stacked away. Her agenda for the night was done. Anything else, she would deal with tomorrow... right after she made the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it appropriate to change it to M now? I mean nothing too raunchy but it's still mature? I think? I don't know. Heeeeelp. 
> 
> Practise safe sex!! Yeah sure pregnancy is like the biggest thing but it also helps with STI's. Get yourself checked regularly yada yada ya. The usual. 
> 
> On the chapter: Blake experienced another road block. I don't know why I do this to myself. I want to introduce Eira (the kid) already but I seemingly like torturing myself :( 
> 
> ETA for Eira: 5 chapters. (Subject to change)


	6. Chapter 6

Weiss woke up to the blaring tone of her alarm. She blindly fumbled around under the pillow to find her scroll and turn it off. She was semi-aware of where she was but it still didn't make the process of getting up any easier. Despite popular belief, she wasn't the best at getting up in the morning, she just had too many responsibilities to be sleeping in.

Responsibilities that kept nagging at her in her head every morning until she decided to get up. With a heavy sigh, she bid farewell to the warmth of the bed and sat up. She got to see the surroundings of the room for the first time that morning and not just using the lights from the hallway to guide her.

Despite how rare it was for Blake to have a guest over, the overall place seemed to be well kept. Empty, but at least it wasn't inch thick in dust.

Weiss briefly wondered if Blake was awake. She felt like it would be rather awkward to be walking around whilst she was still asleep. So she sat in the bed and opened her scroll. She checked her schedule and decided to start doing anything she could whilst waiting for the faunus to wake up. If she didn't awake before eight, Weiss would have no choice but to do her business and get to work. Maybe she could even make breakfast as a thank you for providing a place to sleep for the night.

Just as she swiped through one of her notifications, she heard the door of the apartment open, followed by footsteps and the jingling of keys.

Curiously, she got out of the bed and opened the door to almost walk right into Blake.

"Oh, you're awake. Sorry, was I too loud?" Blake chuckled apologetically. Weiss shook her head with a small smile as her eyes caught sight of a plastic bag. "Oh. I didn't have a spare toothbrush so I went out to get one as well as a new towel. I also have a few clothes you can borrow so you don't have to rush home or be late to work."

Weiss blinked surprisingly at the bag and looked up to meet Blake's gaze. The faunus gave a questioning tilt of the head. Weiss cursed quietly in her head when she saw an ear flick.

"Thanks, you didn't have to," Weiss mumbled, quickly looking away. She quickly reprimanding herself for thinking that Blake was resembling a pet cat her sister used to have. It was probably racist and degrading for Blake to be compared to a cat and her tired half asleep brain was no excuse to allow such thoughts.

"Here, I'll leave the clothes by the door whilst I make us breakfast. I have to go in thirty minutes."

"You don't have to trouble yourself. I can grab breakfast on my way to work."

"It's no trouble at all," Blake beamed. "I do still owe you food for a week and it's a little something extra as thanks for yesterday. It's the least I can do."

"Blake, I don't help you whilst expecting for something in return," Weiss sighed.

"I know, which is why I'm doing this. Besides, I'm sure you would do the same if the situation was reversed. It's just common sense to at least feed your friends when they stay over," the faunus laughed as she handed the plastic bag with the supplies. Weiss rolled her eyes and grabbed the bag as she was ushered to the bathroom. She was grateful for not needing to speed her way home for a quick shower and cleanup.

"Thank you, Blake."

"Don't mention it. The hair dryer is in the cupboard underneath the sink if you need it," Blake added before disappearing off into the kitchen to make breakfast. Weiss couldn't help but smile at the wonderful hospitality she was receiving. It was a nice change from the quiet mundane mornings she was used to.

 

 

"How many sugars do you have with your coffee?" Blake asked once she set down a simple breakfast of waffles and fruit in front of Weiss. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Weiss fiddling around with the dress shirt she lent.

"One is fine, thank you," Weiss thanked with a smile before pulling on the hem of Blake's shirt. Her pride was a little wounded at how much empty space was around the chest, but luckily the style of the shirt didn't really make it obvious. "Honestly, are you sure you're a B-cup?"

"B for Blake is what I tell Yang," Blake shrugged.

"Well her being a Y isn't far from the truth, but Ruby and I are nowhere near that end of the spectrum," Weiss huffed, finally deciding to let the shirt be. "Have you got yourself properly fitted?"

"Yes mother, I have. And yeah, I've grown into a C since high school."

"Congratulations. My body decided to stump both my chest growth and my height," Weiss sighed as she picked up a blueberry with her fork.

"You're not that short," Blake reassured as she placed the coffee down next to Weiss' plate.

"Even Ruby is taller than me."

"She used to drink milk by the gallons."

"Then did you and Yang drink by the metric tonne?" Weiss rolled her eyes.

"I'm actually lactose intolerant," Blake shrugged.

"Well, there goes that theory," the heiress sighed, stabbing another fruit with the fork. Blake gave an airy laugh as she left the table to check her scroll.

"I have to go now." Blake said apologetically. "Take your time and I'll see you later today with dinner."

"Anything you need me to do, like water some plants?" Weiss offered, though after a brief check she realised there wasn't any kind of decorative plants anywhere.

"I think everything should be fine," Blake chuckled. "The door automatically locks itself so make sure you don't lock yourself out or something."

"I'm sure you won't mind one or two broken windows," Weiss smirked. Blake shot her playful glare.

"You would be the one who won't have to mind since you will be covering the repair bills." Blake grabbed her jacket off the chair and flipped her mane of hair over her shoulder to put it on without getting it caught.

"I'll see you this afternoon. Bye," Blake waved before hurrying out the door, leaving Weiss to wave after her.

"Bye, I guess," Weiss mumbled but the door had already closed behind her raven haired friend. The silence she was so used to every morning returned once the sound of Blake's car drove off. Weiss looked down at her breakfast with a perplexed expression. She swore the plate looked more appealing before.

"Hmm," Weiss hummed through the empty apartment. The waffles were still good, but she had to admit that even the blueberries seemed a little different from the first few. Paying no mind to the matter anymore, she quickly finished her breakfast and cleaned up to head off to work.

 

 

  
"Rough day at work?" Weiss asked as Blake poured herself a second glass of wine. Blake sighed and picked up her glass to take a sip with a small nod.

"You look like you had it rough too," Blake countered, moving the bottle over to Weiss' side. Weiss didn't hesitate to refill her own glass.

"You could say that. My younger brother always has a way of annoying me ever since he was young. I thought it would end once he grew out of it but it feels like his ego is the only thing that grew," she sighed. Blake gave a small chuckle and shrugged. She didn't have any other siblings so she wasn't familiar with the concept of growing up with an annoyance, but she could imagine the headache Weiss had purely based off what she knew about the youngest Schnee.

If there was such a thing as Atlesian royalty, Whitley Schnee was a pure bred through and through. He too after his father in every way, shape and form except for his sad attempt at facial hair. Ruby used to make fun of his attempts to cheer Weiss up whenever he blessed her with his visits.

"Has his lip fur managed to fill out over the years?" Blake attempted. Weiss rolled her eyes with a smile.

"He's given up on trying. Completely clean and baby-faced, though he is attempting to build is muscle mass."

"And how is that going?" Blake smirked.

"It's obvious he skips out on his leg routines," Weiss said seriously as if it were the punchline of a joke, and luckily to Blake it was in a way. The faunus struggled between laughing and keeping herself from spitting the wine all over the table.

It took a moment for her body to finally decide to swallow so it could laugh freely. Weiss found her internal struggle amusing and gave a quiet airy laugh of her own. She appreciated Blake's attempts to cheer her up in Ruby's place. Her talk with her brother was always about the business. Despite Weiss having full control over her branch, Whitley still found the need to check up on it every once in a while and often trying to give 'advice' on how to 'properly' run the business. Ever since he inherited the company from their father, he always made sure to rub it into his older sisters faces that he ended up being the successful one out of the three, even though the truth was that neither Weiss or their oldest sibling, Winter, wanted anything to do with the family inheritance.

"I don't suppose you told him about his off balance," Blake struggle through small airy coughs. Weiss took another sip from her glass as she shook her head.

"He has amazing balance for someone with a head as big as his. I'm sure he will be fine," she shrugged. "And I would rather not rid myself of such entertainment material. Seeing his disproportional muscle mass is the only thing keeping me from hanging up on his calls."

"Cruel as they come, aren't you?" Blake laughed.

"I'm not the worst. I'm sure my sister will call me and make fun of him even more soon. He owes her a call tomorrow."

"Sounds like you two will be having lots of fun making fun of your youngest sibling."

"Plenty," Weiss smirked. Blake rolled her eyes lightheartedly as she stood up to pack their empty plates. Weiss, not being one to idle and do nothing, followed her and took to washing the dishes with soap once Blake rinsed them.

"Has Yang called you today?" Blake asked as she started raining the soap off.

"I don't believe she has. Was there something she needed?" Weiss asked curiously.

"She wants to take me out for an apology trip tomorrow. I assumed she would have called you too," the faunus shrugged. Weiss shook her head and shrugged as well.

"I wasn't the one she interrogated last night. Knowing her, she'll buy me a cake as an apology," she scoffed as she passed the last of the dishes. She then quickly borrowed the tap to wash away the excess soap off her hands before grabbing a towel to dry off the dishes and stacking them in piles.

"I guess," Blake hummed. "I don't think I'll be comfortable around her if she's going to ask questions again."

Weiss stopped drying the plate in her hands and turned to study Blake. She had her eyes focused on the running water with her brows furrowed and lips slightly pressed into a line.

"Then you should tell her before she gets the chance." Weiss didn't even flinch at the plate cluttering in the sink from Blake's slip. She had somehow expected it to happen.

"I can't do that. 'Hey, Yang. Guess what? I'm adopting a child by myself. Oh and Weiss knew before you'," Blake said in a mocking tone. Weiss just shrugged and placed the dry plate down into the counter top.

"Sounds good. Brief and straight to the point."

"Weiss, I was being sarcastic."

"I'm well aware of what sarcasm is. I'm just saying that it could work. Just try to lose the sarcasm when you tell her."

"Are you being sarcastic now?" Blake huffed. Weiss rolled her eyes as she grabbed one of the forks. She used the prongs to gently stab Blake's arm.

"I am not being sarcastic. Look, the sooner you tell her, the sooner you can stop worrying over it. Just get it over and done with as soon as possible."

"I know but this isn't so easy to tell her."

"And it doesn't get any easier the longer you put it off," Weiss huffed. She placed the fork down and crossed her arms to stare at Blake seriously. "Either you tell her or I will."

"No. Don't you dare," Blake retaliated. She turned off the tap and placed the last of the dishes into the rack before turning to meet Weiss' stare.

"I will dare to if you don't tell her soon. This is for your own good Blake. You're shaving years off your life from stressing over this."

"Well, luckily I will have eight more to stress through," Blake muttered.

"Smart ass-ery is not going to help your case." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Neither is making up words."

"You're insufferable," Weiss sighed, throwing the towel over Blake's face. "Fine. I concede. Take your time telling her."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Yang, it's been hours. Can we just go home already?" Blake whined as Yang continued to pull Blake through yet another street food market. Blake had already reached her stomach's max capacity but the blonde would just make them walk for an hour before coming back for another round of food. Blake doesn't think she has any space in her whole entire body left. She could feel her blood saturated in grease and fat. 

"One more round. Look, I was a total ass the other night and I'm just trying to make it up to you," Yang insisted. 

"Yaaaang, please let me go home. I feel like I'm being held hostage here," Blake continued to whine. With her sluggish body, she tripped over an uneven crack and fell nose first into Yang's back. It was only then that she stopped walking. 

"Fine, no more food. Let's go for desserts."

"Oh, for the love of-" Blake cursed as her arm was tugged at again. "Someone! Help! I'm being held against my own will!" Blake sobbed quietly to not draw actual attention to them. Yang just laughed and tightened her grip around her wrist. 

"Last stop, I promise. I need to get some cake for Weiss and Ruby anyway," she reassured. 

"My freedom is so close, so near," the faunus faked tears of relief. From the pain she felt in her feet, they might as well have been real anyway. To her utter relief, the dessert shop that Yang brought them to wasn't too far off. What was more important to the faunus was that they had chairs! 

"Sweet relief!" Blake huffed as she flopped onto one of the seats at an empty table. Yang rolled her eyes and turned back to the front of the shop. 

"Stay here. If you're not here when I come back, we're going out again tomorrow," Yang said casually, despite inflicting actual fear down Blake's spine. As if that wasn't enough, she turned and gave her a bright innocent smile, saying "I also know where you live."

"As if I could go anywhere in this state," Blake mumbled. Yang shrugged, satisfied with the answer. She then left to go get some desserts and apology cakes. 

Blake sat up in her seat and rested her elbows against the table. The dessert shop had a nice warm atmosphere to it. With its soft orange lighting and calm piano melodies playing gently through the speakers, Blake felt like she was back in her home, undisturbed and completely relaxed. She made a mental note to remember this place so she could visit again one day. 

The faunus then glanced over at the menu hanging above the heads of the people serving the register. She also saw the blonde mane of hair below it, its owner thinking hard about which cake she should get. To be honest, Blake really hadn't thought much about that night. Yang's drunken apology was genuine enough for her so this whole day trip and feast wasn't necessary. But no matter how much she reassured the blonde, she wouldn't take no for an answer. 

It was admirable that she was willing to atone for her mistakes, but it was a little bit too extreme sometimes. Nevertheless, it showed just what kind of person she was. Always going above and beyond for those she loved. It was a shame that there was no one she found that was worthy of being on the receiving end outside her friends and family. That person would also have to be damn well perfect too. Blake wouldn't let Yang settle for anything less than she deserved. 

"What's with the frown. Need bandaids? I have some here," Yang suddenly interrupted. Blake gave a small smile and shook her head. She was smart enough to at least wear sneakers when she was with the blonde. 

"I was just thinking about things. You're always nagging me about finding someone, but when are you going to introduce me to your special someone?" she asked curiously. Yang gave a small laugh and placed down a plate of red velvet cake and fruit cheesecake. Blake would have thrown up at anymore street food, but desserts seemed to be appealing enough to fit into her body. She made sure to grab the cheesecake first. She needed the fresh fruits to feel somewhat less like an oily fried grease ball. 

"Well, I make sure to leave the best for my friends first. Maybe after you and Weiss finally settle down I'll start looking," Yang shrugged. 

"So you'd settle for rejects?" Blake raised a brow. 

"I'd settle for third. You get first pick, then Weiss."

Blake rolled her eyes. 

"Your logic is flawed. Weiss and I have no plans of finding a relationship any time soon."

"Then neither am I," Yang grinned as she took a bite of the cake. She hummed for a second before tasting a bit of the filling by itself. "Ruby might like this one better."

"Yang, I don't need you to find me anyone. You should worry about yourself first," sighed Blake. She poked at the strawberry and popped it into her mouth as she stared at the blonde who seemed to be taking the conversation very lightly. 

"No can do. I've known you guys longer. I'm not going to forsake you for some guy I find attractive," she shrugged. Blake was tempted to slam her head into the velvet cake for being so damn noble. Stupid and annoying, but noble. 

"Sometimes I wish I could just kick you across the jaw sometimes. You're so freaking stubborn," Blake gritted. Yang seemed to take it as a compliment and only grinned wider. 

"I know, but you guys mean a lot to me. And, I've spent so many years getting to know you guys. I know that even when we're old, frail and shrivelled like prunes, Weiss would always roll her eyes at my puns, you would always scoff and Ruby would always laugh. I don't need someone else there to make me happy," Yang explained wholeheartedly. Blake gave her a deadpanned stare. How could she confidently say such embarrassing things so easily? 

"That's if you live to be old. Weiss would have probably hired a hit man to get rid of you by then," Blake scoffed. 

"There we go. That's the dynamic I know and love," Yang laughed. "I'm happy where I am now. I don't need anything else."

Blake used her fork to cut the tip of the cake off. She played around with it on her plate for a bit, thinking. She felt guilty that Yang valued her friendship enough that it was all that she needed to be happy, and yet there she was, wanting to have a child of her own and not even having the guts to tell her friend who thought so dearly of her. Why was she preaching about finding someone who deserved Yang, when she herself didn't deserve the blonde's companionship. 

"Yang..." Blake said slowly. She quickly paused when she remembered the night where Yang flipped at Ruby. 

'You're not ready!' 

Those words rang through her mind deafeningly. She couldn't help but feel like she was going to relive that night, only difference being that the words would be directed at her and not Ruby. 

"What is it?" Yang asked curiously. Frantic golden eyes met confused lilac. Yang furrowed her brows worriedly when she saw Blake seemingly drain in colour right before her eyes. "Are you going to be sick? Oh no. Here, I'll take you to the bathroom," she quickly got out her seat but a hand stopped her. 

"No, Yang." Blake took a breath. "You might want to sit down for this."

"What is it?" Yang asked slowly, taking her seat once again. 

There was a dead silence from the two friends as Blake tried to calm her nerves. When she glanced up, she felt a dagger run through her chest at the worry and concern painted all over the blonde's features. 

"I'm adopting," she said quickly so that she could quickly ease the pain and guilt. She closed her eyes and waited for a wave of scolding, but the silence continued where it had left off. 

"Adopting what? A dog?" Yang asked slowly. Blake opened her eyes and stared in pure shock at her clueless friend. "A cat?" She tried again. 

"No, Yang. I'm adopting adopting," Blake sputtered. She bit her tongue purposely at giving an equally vague answer. 

"Like... actual adopting?" Yang asked slowly.

Blake nodded. 

"Like... a baby? A person? A child?" Yang's words continued to slow down. 

"Yes." Blake confirmed, staring into the lilac irises for as long as she dared. She watched as Yang slowly blinked before taking a deep breath and sitting up straight in her seat. Blake followed along but held her breath, waiting for a reaction. 

"Oh... kay. Uhmm. Wow," Yang stumbled. She raised her hand to scratch the back of her head awkwardly, not quite sure how she was meant to react. "I'm glad I sat down."

"Yang, I would have told you sooner but-"

"No, no. I got it. You looked like you were about to pass out while telling me. Just... I don't know what to say," Yang gave a nervous laugh. 

"The truth would be best," Blake sighed. The hesitation in the blonde wasn't exactly hinting at a positive reaction. There was no backing down now, she said what she needed to. The ball was in Yang's court and it was up to her to either serve it back or just throw it into Blake's face. 

"Well. It's unexpected first of all. You were very particular about the kind of life you wanted," Yang said slowly. "I'm just wondering why you would want to... rush into things," she hesitates, not quite sure how to convey her thoughts properly. 

"I know, and I honestly haven't made the final decision yet. But I've been thinking about it for a while and it's becoming clear that it's not just a phase," the faunus explained. Yang gave a small hum as she stared at the table. 

"But it's also been a while since your last relationship," she said cautiously. Blake gave a deep sigh, but nodded along. 

"I know. But it's not like I crave to have someone to love. I'd much rather not have to deal with all the consequences of dating again." 

Yang looked up from the table and studied Blake carefully. Her thoughts seemingly got darker as her brows furrowed deeply. 

"Why does it sound like you've given up on finding someone?" She asked carefully. Blake was surprised that that was what she was questioning rather than the whole adoption thing. Just as Blake was about to reassure her that it was nothing like that, the blonde suddenly grabbed her hands. 

"Blake, what did he do to you? Is there a reason why you feel like this? Did he do something that you haven't told me about yet?" Yang asked in a severely worried tone. 

"What? Heavens, no!" Blake denied a little too loudly, but her friend wasn't convinced. Her lips pursed into a thin line as she continued to stare directly into Blake's eyes as if she could somehow break her into confessing. "Yang, please. He didn't do anything."

"Then why are you adopting on your own? You gave very detailed explanations of your life goals and one of the major parts of it was finding a good husband to settle down with." The blonde refused to let Blake's hands go. Blake glanced around to see if they were interrupting anyone but the dessert shop seemed to be empty for the night, much to her relief. 

"Yang, things change. My naive self all those years ago thought that life would be like a fairytale, but now that I'm living the reality, I realised that not everything has to be like what I thought when I was younger," Blake explained sincerely. "I'm happy where I am. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. But having a child is something that I still want. It won't be easy, it won't be simple, but I'm prepared to take whatever challenges are in store for me." She manoeuvred her hands so they were grasping back at Yang's. Blake gave a small reassuring smile to help convince her friend and waited. 

The silence continued to drag on and with each passing second, it became apparent that things were turning for the worst very rapidly. Yang refused to meet her gaze and her hands were starting to tremble. 

"Yang?" Blake called out cautiously. Yang slowly took her hand back away and tucked them neatly beside her with a sigh. 

"I don't know, Blake," she finally said slowly. Blake felt her heart drop to the pits of her stomach. 

"Wh-what do you mean you don't know?" Blake stuttered. 

"I don't know what to say. If you're asking for my opinion, I'd have to say I'm against this idea," Yang admitted with a heavy heart. She saw the absolutely shattered expression on Blake's face and felt like the worst person in the world for being the one who caused it, but she couldn't change her opinions just because she felt guilty. 

"Why?" Blake whispered. Weiss' voice was constantly ringing in the back of her mind, reassuring Blake that Yang would be supportive of her choice. She didn't know if the false hope from the heiress contributed more to the pain or not. 

"What will happen if you do find someone? And then you two have a kid of your own? The one you adopted is going to be left behind," Yang explained. 

"No they won't."

"How can you be sure? Blake, I've already had to live with Ruby's mum. Sure, she tried to see me as her own but Ruby always had that something extra with her mum," the blonde countered back immediately. "And your future partner? How will they treat your adopted child?" 

"Yang, I'm not going to be with anyone who treats my child with disrespect," Blake gritted. 

"Love makes people blind Blake. All it takes is that little flutter in your chest before all their flaws just magically disappear." Yang threw her hands up in frustration. 

"I'm not that stupid, Yang," Blake glared. She was honestly too confused at this point to even think straight. It felt like Yang was constantly driving a knife through her chest over and over again the more she persisted against the idea of Blake adopting while Weiss, someone who she had never confided in before, accepted her wholeheartedly. 

"Oh really, Blake?" Yang scoffed. "What about that high school sweetheart of yours? Adam Taur-"

Yang didn't even get to finish before Blake slammed her hands onto the desk and stood up. The blonde felt like cutting her tongue off and giving it to Blake at an attempt to quickly apologise because she knew she had just overstepped the line by a long mile. 

"Instead of worrying about who I date, why don't you find one for yourself first, Yang." Blake muttered as she fought to hold back the tears. "You obviously have a lot of steam to let off. I'm not going to just sit here and let you run it all off on me."

"Blake, I-"

Blake took her bag and walked off, not turning back to even bid farewell to the woman she thought was her closest friend. She would have understood it if it was just about her not being ready to be a mother, but she didn't expect Yang to think that she'd be a bad one. To add to the list of offences, she had even brought up her first ex from high school. A topic that was severely sensitive to Blake yet Yang wielded it with finesse to directly attack her.

So much for making amends. The night only proved to have only damaged their friendship rather than mending it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhhhh shit. Yang's not so happy go lucky after all. 
> 
> And yes, the stereotypical Adam Taurus back story again, although I assure you there's no domestic abuse or abusive relationship kinda thing.


	7. Chapter 7

Weiss held her hand over her mouth as she gave out a quiet yawn. It was almost one in the morning and she was regrettably still awake due to a distressed guest sitting on her couch. Being woken up just hours prior to her panicked voice over the scroll was not something she had expected but neither was the severity of the situation.

Once the water was done boiling, she poured the water into two seperate cups. One with tea and one just plain. She then carefully picked the two cups and headed back to her couch.

"Here, drink this to calm yourself down," Weiss said gently as she placed the tea down in front of her guest. She would have made tea for herself too but she didn't want to have caffeine in her system too early into the morning.

"Thanks," her guest mumbled weakly. Weiss gave a small nod as she took a sip of her own cup to chase away the morning chill.

To be honest, calm was the last thing Weiss expected to be in the situation. She had whole heartedly believed that her blonde friend would be the most supportive of Blake's decision. The fact that she had hurt Blake instead was a fact that didn't sit well with her. But when the said blonde called her, frantically asking for help and then showed up in front of her doorstep in tears, turning her away was the last thing she could do.

"At first I didn't know if she was being serious, but then she looked at me with those piercing eyes and I just... my mind just went on auto-pilot," Yang sniffed. Weiss was a little confused as to why it wasn't Blake who had come to her first, but after having her closest friend hurt her, she supposed Blake was having some trust issues.

"Do you really think that she's not ready to adopt?" Weiss asked slowly.

"Yes. I mean no! I mean-" Yang held her head desperately. "I don't know."

Weiss gave a quiet sigh. Throughout their friendship, Blake and Yang have always been a little further from her reach than Ruby. It was just how their dynamic worked. But it was becoming more and more obvious that there were a lot of things she doesn't know about the two and it was only now that she was allowed to get a glimpse of their innermost demons.

"You seem indecisive. Care to share your thoughts?" Weiss asked slowly. Demons were a fragile thing to deal with and she didn't want to have anymore develop from this encounter.

"You wouldn't understand. Your parents didn't just one day up and leave you," Yang muttered. Weiss started a mental notebook and took down notes on Yang's replies. She wondered if she should actually try and get professional help rather than play pretend at being a psychiatrist.

"So this is about your mother, Raven?"

"She's not my mother," Yang hissed. Weiss immediately recoiled. She wondered if she was close enough to Yang to be stepping into such sensitive zones.

"Allow me to rephrase. Is your hostility towards Blake's adoption regarding your experience with your... birth mother, Raven?" Weiss asked as carefully as she could.

"No. Yes. A little," Yang stumbled. She let out a frustrated sigh as she grasped at her golden locks desperately. "It isn't about her. It's about what happened after."

"With Summer?"

"Yes."

Weiss quietly gave herself a mental pat on the back. Finally she got a solid answer from the blonde.

"Was she... gentle?" Weiss pushed on, having difficulty finding the right words. From what she knew, Summer Rose had been a warm loving mother to both her own and step child.

"She was. She was great, don't get me wrong. It's just..." Yang paused, struggling to get her thoughts out into words. "She wasn't Raven," she finally sighed.

Weiss raised her brow. If she didn't even recognise Raven as her mother, why would she want Summer to be anything like her?

"I don't quite follow."

Yang took a deep breath as she held the mug of tea in her hands. Weiss patiently waited for an answer, briefly wondering if Blake was asleep yet. She was worried for the raven-haired faunus. Weiss didn't know what Blake's coping mechanisms were besides running and hiding which resulted in Yang proceeding to chase and seek. She just hoped that she was holding out okay... at least until she could go find her.

"I do believe that Blake will be a good mother. No doubt about it," Yang started talking slowly. Weiss gave her her full attention, nodding slightly to show that she was listening. "But I also know that she's not a lone wolf. Somewhere down the line she will find someone who she wants to be with and that's where I start to object. What will happen to her adopted child when her attention is being drawn away? The kid already lost their parents once. I don't want to see someone lose their parents twice."

"You're an absolute idiot," Weiss spat almost immediately after Yang had finished. The instant insult caused Yang to recoil in both offence and surprise.

"Wh-"

"This is Blake we're talking about Yang. I get that you're the one with experience in the field of having step parents but don't project those views onto your friend. Blake's had her fair share of drama and hurting someone as innocent as a child is the last thing she would do," Weiss lectured.

"I'm not saying she's going to do it intentionally. She's not going to abandon the kid but the transition from being an only child to a single parent to suddenly a bigger more foreign family is going to be hard on them," Yang quickly explained.

"I'm sure she will deal with the situation accordingly," Weiss gritted. "She's not going to just marry someone she fancies and introduce them to her kid the day after their honeymoon, Yang. That's if she wants to adopt now anyway."

"But you know that it will happen, Weiss. Even if she tries not to, if she has a kid of her own, she will favour her blood related child more than the ado-"

"No," Weiss flatly rejected. Yang back-pedalled. She was being interrupted in the most sudden of ways and was becoming more and more confused at the whole situation.

"What do you mean no? No to what?" Yang flustered. She placed her cup down a little too harshly on the table before throwing her hands into her mane of hair to grasp at the blonde locks desperately. "I don't even know what's going on anymore."

Weiss took a deep breath and slowly released it. She was becoming a little too impatient with the blonde and had to remember that just as she didn't know things about them, they didn't know things about her.

"Yang, the saying that favouring your own blooded child is outdated and heavily generalised," Weiss spoke carefully. "It may have been the case for your household, but not for everyone else. Your mother is an example of that."

"She didn't want me to begin with," Yang spit bitterly.

"But you share the same bloodline. The point is that you have abandonment issues." Weiss crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze at the blonde, daring her to object.

"Not exactly a secret. Everyone knows that," Yang scoffs.

"Everyone but you it seems. You're letting your fear of abandonment cloud your better judgement of mothers. You flipped with Ruby's pregnancy scare over the fact that she could have been a parent and not over the fact that she was being careless in her nightly endeavours. And now you're raining hell on Remnant because Blake wants to adopt," Weiss stated matter-of-factly. Yang's brows narrowed at the accusation but she didn't have anything to retaliate with.

"Yang, you need to stop doing this to yourself. You said Summer was a great mother. She wasn't related to you one bit and you agree that she is a better mother figure that your birth mother."

"Yes, but Ru-"

"But nothing, Yang. Parents always favour the youngest child. They're smaller, more naive and prone to accidents. Jealousy over the youngest child is normal," Weiss sighed. "Take it from me who's the middle child. Thinking your parents love the youngest and abandoning you is a thought that has crossed my mind multiple times while growing up."

"But I still had my dad. I knew he wouldn't leave me. Who would Blake's kid have?" Yang huffed almost proudly when she found a flaw in Weiss' view.

"They will have Blake. Yang, you have to understand that sometimes having family figures outside of your blood relations is better. My father was a toxicity in my life but I found a fatherly figure elsewhere. The family butler took better care of me than my father ever had," the blue-eyed heiress admitted. Yang stared blankly at Weiss for a good long second before sighing and turning to look at the floor.

"I still don't know if she should be diving head first into this. If she had a reliable partner beside her, I wouldn't be opposed but she doesn't. Even if it is my abandonment issues, you can't deny the probability of Blake's future partner being an ass," the blonde muttered just barely above a whisper as if she was scared the outside world was awake and listening to their conversation.

"She had one bad relationship. I don't think that's anyway to judge her future relations," Weiss scolded.

"But he was the only one she actually loved. Doesn't that say something?"

"It tells me that her younger, more naive self was not as smart as she is now." Weiss shrugged as she took another sip. "A lot more stubborn too."

"But you see? Blake listens to nobody when it comes to someone she loves?" Yang threw her hands up in frustration. The memories of countless arguments she got into with Blake when she had been in her relationship with Adam was driving her to lose her patience all over again.

"I'm sure she would listen to us now that we've known each other for over a decade. She's also much more guarded in relationships, meaning that there's less of a chance for her to fall for some total idiot who takes advantage of her," Weiss replied calmly. She wasn't sure of what exactly happened between Blake and Yang during those years where Adam Taurus was in the picture but she knew it had threatened to break their friendship. Blake had even gone missing for months at a time after big fights with her best friend.

But admittedly, she had to confess that those years were not Blake's best. Despite everyone constantly telling her to leave Adam, she adamantly refused to listen to anyone. It was only when it was too late that she saw the truth behind everything.

"I just don't want to see Blake like that again. None of us wants to see that. And if it does happen, I don't want an innocent little child to be in the middle of it." Yang gave a long and heavy sigh. She wanted to believe that her fears were irrational. She so desperately wanted to be there to support Blake whenever she needed her. But those dark years still continued to haunt her.

Day after day she would watch Blake be in an unhealthy relationship and feel so helpless. So many fights, so many heartaches and yet Blake still didn't listen.

"Well then it would be up to us to make sure no douchebag gets the chance with her then," Weiss attempted a small reassuring smile. Yang spared her a glance but looked away with a frown.

"Maybe it's time for me to take a step back. She obviously trusts you about this issue. I'll make myself scarce while she rethinks this over." The blonde got up from her seat and made her way towards the exit. Weiss rolled her eyes at the dramatics and placed her mug down a little too harshly.

"I think you just need time to calm down. I see no issue with Blake wanting to adopt and I don't see why you would either. You of all people should know that Blake has changed, she's not the same girl she used to be. If you fail to see that then maybe you should reevaluate your place as her best friend."

Yang turned around and met Weiss' fierce stare with her own. The two fell silent for a few seconds before Yang turned away.

"I have my reasons to believe that Blake shouldn't rush into this. It's because I'm her best friend that I'm making sure she makes the right decision," she muttered threateningly. Weiss crossed her arms and stood firm, refusing to back down either. It irritated her that Yang was letting her own insecurities affect others but even more so was the fact that Yang failed to see what she was doing. Hindering Blake from her happiness was not something a friend would ever want to do and yet here Yang was, adamantly standing up against her closest and longest friend.

"When you're driving her away like you are now, who will be there to protect you from your bad decisions?" Weiss asked with a scoff.

"I'll deal with my own problems," Yang snapped back almost like a snarl. She then clenched her fists and turned around to make for the door again.

"She loves you, Yang. Have you ever considered that it might not just be her romantic interests who could hurt her?" Weiss yelled at the door sternly. She was practically using all of her will to stop herself from grabbing Yang and slapping her fifty times across the face for being a stubborn imbecile.

"Good bye, Weiss." Yang gritted before slamming the door shut behind her. Weiss flinched at the sound before releasing an unsteady sigh.

Things did not go as she thought and now everything was in shambles. She wondered if maybe Ruby would be dragged into the whole fiasco now that Yang was blowing a fuse. Would her reaction be unexpected too? What would she say? How would it affect Blake? There were too many variables now to make an educated guess. Her theory about Yang being completely supportive had completely blown up in their faces and she didn't even begin to assess the damage done to Blake's mentality yet.

Speaking of which, Weiss briefly wondered where or what Blake was doing. She hoped that she was probably asleep but after what had transpired between the blonde and the faunus, she doubted that was the case.

 

* * *

  
With a bottle of her finest wine and a bag with a variety of ice cream tubs, Weiss took a deep breath in front of her friend's door. She felt like she was going to comfort her after a cold break up with her partner and, with all things considered, it was close to the truth.

When the door opened, she was mildly surprised that the raven haired faunus wasn't a complete mess. Dark circles aside, Blake seemed... fine.

"Oh, Weiss. Hi." Blake smiles as she took a step to the side to allow Weiss in. Weiss was stunned. Blake could smile? In this kind of situation? Had Blake and Yang already made up in the short span of a few hours? It was possible... but with the way the blonde left it didn't seem likely.

"I... uh... thought you might needed some company," Weiss stuttered when she realised she hadn't moved from her place outside the door. Blake raised her eyebrow as she eyed the wine and ice cream.

"She went to talk to you, didn't she?" Blake asked with a small guilty smile. Weiss sighed as she felt her shoulders drop.

"We... had a long talk. I was wondering how you were holding up so I decided to drop by," she admitted. Blake gave a small nod of understanding before stepping back from the door.

"I suppose you want to have a long talk with me as well then," Blake called out as she walked back in. Weiss let herself in quietly, taking her shoes off before following the faunus.

She was more than a little surprised to see Blake so calm. She had expected a nervous wreck full of insecurities but Blake seemed... normal.

"You seem to be fairing better than your opponent," Weiss noted, placing the wine and ice cream onto the kitchen top while Blake went to get the wine glasses and spoons. Weiss checked around for any signs of emotional breakdowns and there were none.

"I hope you weren't too harsh on her. You know that confidence of hers is fragile," Blake mused as she placed the glasses next to her friend. "But I'm sure she hasn't had a change of heart regarding my choice, right?"

Weiss narrowed her gaze at the faunus suspiciously. Her suspicions for Yang and her meeting prior to this grew.

"This isn't the first fight we've had. I think I've been through enough to know how Yang is going to react," Blake reassured. She pulled a bottle opener from one of the drawers and popped the cork of the bottle off to pour themselves some wine.

"I'm more concerned about how her tantrum is affecting you specifically. You seem strangely... normal," Weiss sighed as she took a sip of her wine. Blake gave a careless shrug as she took her glass and bottle over to the couch. Weiss followed behind with the spoons and ice cream.

"Well, I have you to thank for that." Blake settled herself down as she took a sip from her glass. "Wow, you really went all in on this wine. How bad did you think I would be?"

"I was prepared to call the fire brigade to force open your door should you have been reduced to a useless sobbing mess in your room who refuses to answer to anything or anybody," Weiss answered without a single shred of hesitation. Blake gave a small quiet laugh and shrugged. "You can see why I'm more than just surprised to see you so calm."

"Well, like I said, I have you to thank for that." Blake reached over to grab a spoon from Weiss' hand. "You have twenty minutes before I finish this ice cream. Ask whatever it is you want to know."

Weiss finally sat down as she placed the ice cream tubs onto the table. She as no idea what to ask first as so many things were rushing through her head. Being one to always think before she spoke, Weiss took a moment to settle her thoughts before picking the most important question out of the list.

"Are you still adopting?" Weiss said bluntly. She glanced up to see Blake give no reaction as she ate the ice cream. She gave a small hum in thought before she met Weiss' stare.

"Yes."

"Seriously?!"

"Yes." Her golden eyes never faltering as she answered the cool blue orbs. "You told me that it was my decision to make, and you're right. I was determined to tell Yang eventually. Whether she approves or not shouldn't affect my choices."

"Dear maidens, here I though I'd have to drill that into your head this morning," Weiss sighed in relief. She reached over to grab any tub of ice cream. The stress of worrying about the faunus' wellbeing had been for naught and she really needed something to cool herself off after her worries were just stopped so abruptly.

"Well, you have been since the start. I think it worked," Blake laughed. "After I went home yesterday, I was surprised at how calm I was too. I still couldn't sleep a wink but I felt like a weight has been lifted... sort of. I told Yang what I needed to. I didn't need her to accept it. Just having her know was enough."

"Has Yang contacted you since?"

"No," the faunus replied, a little disappointed. "And I don't plan on reaching out to her first either. I've made up my mind. Until she can accept that, there's no point in me contacting her."

Weiss stared down at her ice cream. Although she was glad Blake was confident in herself, she was still a little worried about her situation. Blake and Yang had been close ever since high school and even closer throughout college. She doubted that this conflict wasn't hurting the the faunus.

"You know that she is just looking out for you, right?" Weiss said quietly, not sure on where this would take her. "She told me she only wanted to make sure that you weren't just rushing into things."

The was an uncomfortable silence that settled between them. Weiss glanced up from her frozen dairy dessert to see that the calm facade Blake was wearing was beginning to crack.

"I know." Blake lowered her voice to barely a murmur. "I will eventually try to convince her if it takes too long for her to come around. But trying to convince her now would just be driving her further away."

Weiss silently tapped her spoon against the top of the ice cream, not really wanting another scoop but not quite sure what to do with the silence either. Friends fighting was a normal thing. Heck, she and Ruby used to fight every second week. But most of the time it was over trivial matters. Now that it was something serious between Yang and Blake, it would prove to be even more difficult than all their trivial fights combined. Especially since it was a conflict in morals and beliefs.

"So what do you plan to do now?" She asked, unsure of how things would turn out from here.

Blake sat there silently for a moment before giving a sigh and placing her ice cream onto the table. Her appetite for the dessert had disappeared.

"I guess I have to tell Ruby. That's if Yang hasn't told her already," she shrugged.

"And then?" Weiss urged. Blake paused again as she thought about her course of action.

Weiss was left stunned when golden eyes stared back at her with a newfound confidence.

"Finalise my papers for the adoption."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reaaaallly want to introduce Eira soon but I know I shouldn't rush storylines ;~;
> 
> Eira is an OC and I already find her so precious (even though she technically does not exist even in fiction form yet). 
> 
> Hopefully I can continue to have the motivation to pull through this fic and update it more frequently. (Maybe)


End file.
